Reading and assignment - Essay Example

Political parties, elections, & interest groups Political parties, elections, & interest groups Hello, I would like to address the issue of political parties, elections and interest groups in my speech. First, I would like to indicate that political parties and interest groups are mandated in the context of the US government to run campaigns for political purposes and the purpose of campaigns. The duty of running campaigns is undertaken by these political parties and interest groups in an independent manner without involvement of candidates.

The efforts of political parties and interest groups are felt not only before but also after elections. In other words, it is plausible to contend that political parties and interest groups intermediate the public and officeholders. They form the basis through which voters decide who to vote for in elections. In America, it has become a common practice in elections for voters to decide on a cause or a political party first before considering the candidates that they would vote for. For instance, most American voters are attached to either Republicans or Democrats political parties (Wilson, DiIulio & Bose, 2011).

During the nomination of candidates within political parties, voters supporting a political party may differ on candidates, but in the general elections all members of a party will vote for their chosen candidate whether they nominated them or not. Candidates who belong to a party which has more members are most likely to win the elections. The main goal of electing public executives is to unite political parties and draw a distinguished feature from other groups. Determining who makes up or who leads a political party is difficult.

However, a political as an electorate body may be described to include all citizens who identify themselves with the party whether they are registered members of the party or not (Santos, 2011). As long as they identify themselves as members or vote for the party in elections, then they may be considered as part of the political party. As an organization, a political party consists of institutions such as national committees who run the affairs of the party and ensure that everything is done in accordance with the goals of the party and towards the achievement of the political party’s objectives.

Finally, a political party in government is composed of elected and appointed officials affiliated with the party. A good example of this is Barrack Obama’s government and the House Assembly. Political parties play a key role in campaigns. The national party committees and legislative campaign committees recruit candidates and carry out the role of raising funds for campaigns (Bessette, 2010). They also administer resource allocation in order to ensure that the party’s resources are efficiently utilized so as to lead the party to victory in elections.

Political parties are often required to maintain the rules and regulations of an election. They must also stick to the political and economic real within which political campaigns are to be conducted. Political parties in USA have become more unified in the recent past and have become more able to control legislative and leadership agendas and process better than before. Interest groups differ from political parties in that they do not seek elective positions in general elections. They are made up of people whose shared goal is to influence public policy and they seek more specific policy goals as opposed to political parties.

The largest interest group is that composed of business organizations and corporations. Other interest groups include those that involve labor unions, social organisations, occupations and other public interest groups (Maxwell, Crain & Santos, 2012). There are a large number of interest groups in the United States because the government has grown and taken more responsibilities, hence generating an incentive for interest groups to organize themselves and advocate for their interests. Interest groups also strengthen their strategies in order to maintain their organisations.

They use such strategies as direct mail fundraising, websites and e-mail lists.References listBessette, J. M. (2010). American government and politics: Deliberation, democracy, and citizenship, Texas edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Wadsworth.Maxwell, W. E., Crain, E., & Santos, A. (2012). Texas politics today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.Santos, A. (2011). American government and politics today. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.Wilson, J. Q., DiIulio, J. J., & Bose, M. (2011). American government: Institutions & policies.

Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.