Interest Groups and Public Policy - Essay Example

? Special Interests al Affiliation An interest group refers to any non-Party organization that involves itself in political activity in order to influence public policy and in turn gain favors. Such groups are usually formally organized and seek to influence public policy. The American Red Cross a good example of an interest group in the United States that despite not being political in nature, its interests are in trying to influence the government, as well as helping the needy people. Other examples of interest groups are highlighted in the paper. The relationship between political parties and interest groups is also discussed and the clear aims of the interest groups towards the making of policies are outlined. Interest groups also influence the president and the congress in the making of policies. This happens through the employment of lobbyists, most of whom are former government employees. The structure of the American government invites the participation of interest groups at various stages of policy making. Citizens have formed groups and elect representatives in their neighborhoods or cities, and lobby the city council and their state government. Keywords: Interest Group, Political Party, Lobby, Lobbyist, President, Congress, Policy, Policy Making, Legislators, Government 1. Define an interest group, with examples There has been a lot of confusion when it comes to getting the clear understanding of what interest groups are. This confusion occurs when people think that the interest groups are those that are primarily part of an existing political party, and are politically active. This understanding fails to acknowledge the many numbers of non-membership organizations that are active in politics, like business or law firms that are not affiliated to any political party. An interest group refers to any non-Party organization that involves itself in political activity in order to influence public policy and in turn gain favors. An interest group is usually a formally organized group or association that seeks to influence public policy. The interest groups share a desire of affecting government policies, in order to benefit their cause or themselves. There are examples of interest groups in America like the American Red Cross; inasmuch as it is not political in nature and in as much as some of their time is spent in helping the needy people, some of their time is spent in trying to influence the government (Nownes, 2013). Interest groups are of different categories; there are those that are known as economic interest groups whose main aim is on the side of the economy like the business interest groups and public employees’ unions. Also, there is another category known as a public interest group that is concerned with the overall community and national good, rather than the narrow interest of a particular group. Despite the different types of interest groups that exist, they have characteristics that bind them together and make them to be referred to as interest groups (Bardes, Shelley, & Schmidt, 2010). These characteristics are as follows: They are organized. A group is not considered an interest group if it is not organized, this means that it should have a budget, employers, and at times an office (Nownes, 2013). Should not be affiliated to any political party. This means that it should not be formally part of any political party (Nownes, 2013). They are involved in political activity. The main difference between interest groups and other groups is that, the interest groups are known to lobby, this means that they attempt to influence the government decisions (Nownes, 2013). The following are some of the examples of the major groups that can be termed as interest groups. Profit business firms. These are enterprises that make, buy and sell goods and services for profit. Many of them have an interest in politics and government because the government is involved in policy making, and thus they must look for ways that will ensure that those policies favor them in every aspect . For example, if the government raises the minimum wage they are affected, so they have to lobby to influence decision making in order to favor them (Nownes, 2013). Non-profit business firms. Contrary to the profit making enterprises, these ones do not engage in business for profit. Examples of these are like hospitals. They are usually affected by government decisions, so they lobby so as to influence these decisions to favor them (Nownes, 2013). Labor unions. They are organizations of workers that come together to ensure that there is fairness when it comes to securing better wages , benefits, and good working conditions from employers to the employees. Though they are not organized to primarily influence government decisions, most of them are involved heavily in politics, so as to have favor when it comes to policies affecting them. The best known labor union in the United States is the American Federation of Labor Union and Congress of Industrial Organization. It uses some of the money it collects from members in politics (Nownes, 2013). Trade Association. It is an organized group of businesses and is known to lobby the government, because the government policies seriously affects business activities (Nownes, 2013). Professional Association. It is an organized group that represents the interest of a certain professional group. May be, it can be one that represents doctors or other professionals like accountants. They are involved in lobbying because the licensing of professionals is for the most part the responsibility of the state government, and thus they must seek favor. A good example is the American Medical Association that represents doctors (Nownes, 2013). Citizen group. It is an interest group that is open to any citizen like those representing children, environmentalists, and activists, who are indirectly involved in politics. For example AARP in United States is said to have spent over 20 million US dollars in lobbying the federal government in 2010 (Nownes, 2013). 2. Discuss the relationship between interest groups and political parties Political parties and interest groups are usually described as two functionally distinct entities, this means that they perform different roles, for example the interest groups are primarily concerned in policy making, while the political parties are concerned with nominating candidates for public office and getting those candidates elected (Mecedo de Jesus, 2004). Despite their distinct roles, the two have developed a joint kind of relationship that help both of them to survive. The two are also similar in many other ways like the fact that they have the same goals when it comes to electing leaders who tend to be more favorable to conforming to their interest into office. However, they are always competing because they seek to gain favor from public policies made the government. There are different ways that this symbiotic kind of relationship can be seen (Paddok, 2005): Interest groups help the political parties achieve their goals by working with party leaders in the government to make government decisions. Every time a lobbyist works with a member of the congress, or a state legislator, or the president himself, that lobbyist is helping his or her group to achieve what they want, as well as helping the political leader achieve what he or she wants. So the relationship that exists here shows that both are benefiting from each other (Paddok, 2005). Interest groups and political parties have developed close ties to an extent that these ties are such that there are situations when a variety of different groups and activists may speak on behalf of a certain political party. For example, the American Labor unions that are closely related to the Democratic Party (Paddok, 2005). The relationship between can be seen in campaign financing. The interest groups are important sources of campaign money in this modern era. As discussed earlier, some interest groups like AARP are said to have used over 20 million dollars in lobbying the government and political party leaders. These interest groups have also been involved in running independent advertisements and voter mobilization programs on behalf of party nominees. They do this by contacting their members through door to door visits. For example, AFL-CIO is said to have put a great amount of emphasis on personally contacting their members. In turn, if the candidate they were supporting comes into power, the policies made are made in such a way that they will favor them (Paddok, 2005). All that interest groups want to do is to gain access without affecting election outcomes and also passing legislations more favorable to their preferred policy outcome. 3. Explain how interest groups try to influence the president and Congress as these two branches work together to make policy For an interest group to be very powerful and have influence in government policies, it must be large in size (have many members), must have a lot of financial resources, and also, it must have good leadership to ensure that cohesiveness exists in the group. Unlike the president and the congress that have direct control over policy making, interest groups have an indirect impact. They do not control, but can only seek influence which will favor them. There are many ways that interest groups try to influence the president and also the Congress in the process of making policies in order to have the policies favoring them (Janda, Berry, Goldman, & Hula, 2009). Many interest groups employ lobbyists to influence legislation and administrative decisions. Studies have shown that the highest percentages of these lobbyists are former government employees. The reason behind employing these people as lobbyists is because they know their way around the government, and have the tips to influence the government when making policies to suit the interests of the respective interest groups. For example, “about half of the paid lobbyists in Washington are former government employees or former members of congress” (Bardes, Shelley, & Schmidt, 2010, p. 224). Another way that the interest groups have tried to have influence in policy making is by offering campaign contributions to the members of congress who intend to run for election. Also most of the interest groups provide money to political parties, so that they can in turn be favored in policy making. For example, interest groups like AARP are said to have used over 20 million dollars in lobbying the government and political party leaders (Bardes, Shelley, & Schmidt, 2010). The structure of the American government invites the participation of interest groups at various stages of policy making. Citizens have formed groups and elect representatives in their neighborhoods or cities, and lobby the city council and their state government. The representatives of these interest groups may seek to influence the president personally at social events or fundraisers, when attempts to influence government through the executive and legislative branches fail, so they can try to entice him (Bardes, Shelley, & Schmidt, 2010). The interest groups can also influence the president and congress in the policy making process in an indirect manner. These indirect strategies are such as protests or demonstrations, speaking with the press, and mobilizing public awareness; these protests or rallies are seen as a threat by the government and they influence a lot the policies that are to be in put in place. The president and the congress tend to conform to the wants of such interest groups to avoid disaster. They can also make public endorsements of candidates who are likely to favor their position (McCormik, 2009). Although the president often takes lead on both strategic and structural policy questions, the congressional approval and fine tuning in both areas are necessary. The interest groups influence the congress in some way, and thus the congress open avenues of access by the interest groups, thus lobbying is likely to be more successful (McCormik, 2009). In conclusion interest groups seem to have gained a lot of power in countries like the United States. The United States constitution is silent about these interest groups. For example, the first amendment to the constitution nevertheless provides protection for the formation of interest groups, and also on the activities that they carry out. Interest groups can advocate for policies and are also involved in changing policies, thus having a lot of influence on the other members of the society (McCormik, 2009). Interest groups play a significant role throughout the process of policy making by seeking influence from government officials. The success of an interest group in impelling policy makers lies on factors like the size of the staff team, membership representation, and tactics employed to influence them. In fact, there are more advantages that come with the involvement of interest groups in policy making. This is because most of the interest groups represent the wants or the problems of the common citizen. They work with the people at the elementary levels, thus they know exactly what to lobby for, unlike politicians and government officials, who deal with the people of the higher societal status (McCormik, 2009). Reference List Bardes, A., Shelley, Mack C., & Schmidt, Steffen W. (Eds.). (2010). American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials. Boston: Wadsworth Political Science. Janda, K., Berry, J.M., Goldman, J. & Hula, K.W. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Macedo de Jesus, A. (23, August 2004). Policy Making Process and Interest Groups: How Do Local Govern Associations Influence Policy Outcome in Brazil and Netherlands? The Wall Street Journal, 1-33. McCormick, J. M. (Eds.). (2009). American Foreign Policy and Process. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Nownes, A. J. (Eds.). (2013). Interest Groups in American Politics: Pressure and Power. New York. Routledge. Paddock, J. (2005). State and National Parties and American Democracy. New York. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Read More