NGOs, WWF and Other Interest Groups - Research Paper Example

Political Science Interest Groups INTRODUCTION An interest group is a group of individuals who strongly advocates a particular cause and works to affect the governmental policy regarding it. Interest groups bring about a political change by involving the public and authoritative figures who are in support of that cause. They influence the legal and political policy of the country and their demands, when they are enacted in to the policy, decide what the people get. This paper attempts to explore the roles of political interest groups and their affect on legislation and policy. It provides insight into an effective interest group who is committed to the cause of conservation of the environment and identifies the various strategies employed to affect change. ORIGIN OF INTEREST GROUPS Interest groups can be of different kinds, depending on the cause that they are fighting for. These causes can range from fighting for civil rights, for environmental up-gradation, for introduction of some commodity like buses etc, for provision of healthcare to a certain area, for voting rights etc. Therefore the groups can range from economic and business interest groups to labor unions and social groups. Groups are formed when people with a common objective join together to achieve a shared goal. Individually, each one is not able to exert sufficient influence such that he/she can change the policy. However, as a group, they can be more persuasive and recruit influential figures and organizations, giving them more clout over authority. Also, by being in a group, individuals can harness their skills and resources in a more efficient and productive way. Furthermore, being in a group provides them unity and a platform to unite under. This also gives them a certain degree of cover from resistance and criticism that they might face against their work and might discourage them from continuing. Many interest groups try to recruit members by offering them incentives and at times often forcing people to join. One of the strategies employed by interest groups is lobbying. Lobbying means to have negotiations and talks with Congress members and convincing them to advocate a certain demand. In practice, interest groups and lobbyists are a very pivotal means of conveying the demands of the public to the Congress (Smith, Roberts, and Wielen 335). ROLES OF AN INTEREST GROUP The roles of an interest group encompass not only mass participation for achievement of a common cause but also representation of the masses in front of the higher authorities. Interest groups try to gain public support by educating the public on the matter of concern and sensitizing them to the implications and repercussions of the issue if it is not dealt with in time. An interest group raises political awareness in the public and encourages participation of the public. By asking people to write to a member of the Congress or take other relevant steps to achieve a demand, lobbyists tend to get the people more involved in the political process than they usually would be. When President Clinton introduced a bill related to healthcare during his tenure, it set off a great struggle amongst interest groups, who called their members to write to the Congress. It was seen that those members who were contacted by the interest group wrote to the Congress as well (Janda, Berry, and Goldman 301). Besides bringing about changes in the legislation that are supported by the majority of the people, interest groups also promote the political process by highlighting issues that otherwise were not given much attention by the politicians. Interest groups, as mentioned above, make the public more proactive and increase in them the awareness of fighting for rights. Also, interest groups keep a check on the political organizations. By following up on politicians who influence or affect their cause, they come to know of any depravity that these figures indulge in; due publicity of the corruption of politicians can be detrimental to their job and reputation. NGOs AND WWF NGOs are interest groups as well and it has been seen that they are very effective in having their demands met. The reasons for this are multifarious; one influential strategy is the involvement of media and forming coalitions with other interest groups. The latter strategy is important because when two interest groups work together to achieve a common goal, they can utilize each other’s resources and the cumulative effect of each group’s influence can prove to be more effective in persuading the Congress to accept their demands. One of the interest groups operating in USA is the World Wide Fund for Nature- WWF. The WWF is a non-governmental organization based in many countries all over the globe, committed to the cause of conservation and restoration of the environment. It was founded in 1961 in Switzerland by Julian Huxley and Max Nicholson. Its motto is to stop and reverse the effect of environmental degradation, which affects not only the climate, but also many endangered species. Since the organization is philanthropist in nature and is involved in projects that are aimed to conserve the environment, it has gained a lot of support over time. It has millions of supporters all over the world and has influenced many policies to promote environmental conservation. . It has been involved in various projects in Canada, USA and UK and in Canada, it took a leadership role and formed an eight-member coalition with national environment activist groups to promote their demands (Kopas 141). The WWF depends on funds from the Government and more than fifty percent of its funding comes from donations from individuals like philanthropists etc. WWF had a lot of associations with businesses, who donate to the organization as well. They include Telekids, Mobil, Morgan Guaranty Trust and Exxon, with many businesses donating millions of dollars. Businesses accounted for donations worth $ 7 million on 2007. WWF’s total global income in 2008 was €447 million. It has been estimated that 45% if the total income is generated from the UK, Netherlands and USA (WWF in Brief). The organization works with USAID, UN, IUCN and the World Bank amongst many other organizations, all sharing the same objective of conservation of the environment. The WWF operates under the leadership of Yolanda Kakabandse, governed by a Board of Trustees. Jim Leape is the Director General of the organization. Purpose of WWF WWF is committed to the cause of restoration of the environment. It is a common fact that global warming is rising at an increasingly rapid rate. Global warming has set off a domino effect. It has caused the temperature to rise and there are now more heat waves in the world. Since the beginning of industrialization, greenhouse gases have increased the global average temperature by 0.78°C (Onischka and Fucik 2). Due to the progressive increase in temperature, mountain glaciers are melting rapidly and increasing the water content of the oceans. This has been a source of turmoil in coastal areas where floods have wreaked havoc in the settlements. Ocean warming, environmental pollution and loss of habitats have caused hundreds of species to become extinct, while many thousands are placed on the list of endangered species. Disturbances to the ecosystem have many adverse effects, like tectonic disturbances have increased the frequency of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. WWF has made annulment of these adverse effects its aim. Since the cause of concern is general and affects everyone directly, the WWF has been able to successfully operate in a lot of countries and has won hoards of supporters over the passage of time. WWF and the Climate Bill One of the current projects that the WWF has been working on in the USA is the Climate Bill. The Climate Bill is aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as the emissions of other gases which contribute to global warming. It is a controversial bill to be passed, with many green organizations in are vouching for the passage of the Bill, while many are in opposition. However, the President of USA is in favor of the Bill and believes that passing the bill would allow the country be more efficient in conservation of scarce resources and reduce emissions of global warming gases. The Bill is aimed on decreasing usage of scarce resources like natural gas, coal etc to alternate, more environment-friendly sources of energy like hydrostatic, geothermal and solar energy. The bill will help the USA cut down emission of greenhouse gases by 17% by 2020, starting from 2005, and the country would be able to reduce emissions by over 80% by 2050 (Obama urges Senate to act on climate bill). The bill aims to curb emissions of seven greenhouse gases and proposes a budget of a billion dollars to lessen emissions from factories and power plants using fossil fuels as energy source. The Bill would encourage the use of more renewable and green electrical devices and will create more job opportunities for people who are interested in developing environment-friendly equipment. The Bill was voted in the senate and there was only a difference of seven votes on the opposition and the proposition. As mentioned above, the WWF is in support of the Bill and has taken steps to increase support for the bill amongst the population. One of the strategies employed by the WWF is the use of powerful people to influence policy. Four of the renowned Olympians from USA are in support of the Bill: Bode Miller, Hannah Kearney, Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso. Each one is a gold medalist in the recently held Vancouver games and thus is a national hero. The WWF has projected and hyped their support across the nation, and fans of these athletes are more interested in following a cause that their favorite sports celebrities endorse. This has helped command more clout in building support and mass participation in activities that promote the interests of the passage of the Bill. In a letter to the Senate, which was made public, the athletes have appealed to the Senate to consider passing the Bill, since climate change is adversely affecting winter sports, not to mention many other diverse and far-reaching effects of global warming. Moreover, in order to arouse public sentiment and patriotism, the WWF has recruited supporters of the Bill by highlighting the positive impact of the Bill on the economy. On its official website, the WWF has urged people to rise up and take a stand for the Bill. There is a global race going on between the countries, and China and many European countries have progressed quickly in curbing environmental degradation. The message further states that the way that the USA can win this race is by passing the aforementioned legislation and has urged supporters to call the Senate and voice their opinion (WWF). In the letter that the WWF, along with thirty other organizations, wrote to the Senate urges the government to pass the legislation since it has the support of Americans al over the country. The letter highlights the benefits of the Bill and goes on to say that this Bill would be a step towards a clean economy. The letter was signed by the Presidents and CEOs of all the organizations who are in favor of the Bill. This is makes the letter more influential and shows the vast support that the interest group has. The WWF has not only written letters to the Senate and increased public support, it is also going to participate in the Climate conference going to be held in Copenhagen. The organization aims to address and come to solutions for increased levels of carbon emissions, deforestation and other pressing matters of global concern that are depleting the environment. Many businesses also have shown their commitment to the cause of improving the environment by adoption of the Climate Bill. In 2009, twelve of the big businesses in USA wrote a letter to the Senate, to pass laws that will reduce carbon emissions and make the shift towards a more green industrial approach. The companies included Levi Strauss Co., DuPont, FPL Group, Johnson Diversey, HP, Johnson Johnson, Dell, Bumble Bee Foods, Nike, PG Corporation, Google and Xanterra Parks and Resorts and stated in the letter that urgent action needs to be taken to ensure the safety of the future generations since global warming, if not monitored and reduced, will have a disastrous impact on the future. The WWF also promoted this cause and bolstered the efforts of these businesses. Criticism of the Bill included that it will raise the taxes levied on the people and low-income people would suffer. However as the President Obama pointed out, funds will be given to low-income people and the cost of revenue for the new Bill would be no more than a few cents per person. The outcome of all this struggle has led to narrow voting in the Senate, with the opponents and proponents almost fifty-fifty, and new grounds are being achieved in climate change conferences all over the world. CONCLUSION Interest groups play an integral role in the political process of a country. Nature protection organizations are the part and parcel of continuous changes in the political and economic system o a country (Markham 25). China and USA together contribute to 40% of carbon emissions (Tollefson). Therefore an interest group for environmental protection, WWF, has worked in collaboration with other organizations to pass the Climate Bill in the US senate. It has written letters to the Senate and has raised public awareness about the issue, thus gaining their support. The result has been that there is almost a fifty-fifty divide in the Senate over the passing of the legislation aimed to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gases emissions. Thus one can conclude that with effective communication with external and internal audiences about climate risks and by demonstrating adaptation in action, WWF and related interest groups have had a major influence on policy and the thinking of the public (Wilby 3). Works Cited Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry, and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America. 9th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2006. Kopas, Paul Sheldon. Taking the air: ideas and change in Canada's national parks. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007. Markham, William T. Protecting nature: organizations and networks in Europe and the USA. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007. “Obama urges Senate to act on climate bill”. USAtoday.com. The Associated Press. 28 June 2009. 5 May 2010. Onischka, Mathias and Fucik, Markus. “Climate Change is still underestimated by the financial markets”. Paper of Campus for Finance Research. 2008. 5 May 2010. Smith, Steven S., Jason M. Roberts, and Ryan J. Vander Wielen. The American Congress. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Tollefson, Jeff. “Climate talks snarled up”. 16 June 2009. Web. 459, 894-895. 5 May 2010. Wilby, Rob. “Towards a Climate Smart WWF”. 28 July 2008. 3. Web. 5 May 2010. WWF. “Tell Your Senators to Secure America’s Clean Energy Future”. Our Clean Energy Future. World Wildlife Fund. 2010. 5 May 2010. . “WWF in Brief”. WWF for a Living Planet. World Wildlife Fund. 5 May 2010. Read More