Interest Groups in Politics - Assignment Example

Interest Groups Introduction This article discusses the relationship between interest groups and political parties. It shows how political parties depend on interest groups and in turn how interest groups depend on political parties. Definition and examples of interest groups are given. Define an interest group, with examples? The term interest is used to refer to anything that has value for a particular individual or a group and this group or individuals try to defend it. Interest can be experienced in different shapes and sizes; interests can be political, economical, or religious in nature. The term interest group is used to refer to any organization that is private in nature and consists of members who operate for the achievement of a common aim or objective. One kind of an interest group is that which takes the form of political groups; the aim of the creation of this kind of interest group is to influence people in the political arena to create policies that favor the interest of a political interest group. One such interest group is Texas Medical Association, this group is said to be the largest medical association that has been operational for years with the aim of representing over 46,000 physicians and other individuals related to the field of medicine (Newell, 2009, p.92). Interest groups often derive their strength from their membership. Some of the largest and most powerful interest groups in the nation include the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). This association has a membership of over 32 million persons. With this kind of membership, pushing for championing of certain interest is not very hard. Other equally influential interest groups include the National Rifle Association (NRA), AFL-CIO and American Medical Association (Chapter 11, n.d). Discuss the relationship between interest groups and political parties The relationship between interest groups and political groups is a very close one and it has been in existence for a very long period of time. Both these groups are defined to conduct separate functions in a particular nation (Bardes, 2012, p.224). A party has the task of ensuring candidates are elected for various public positions after nominating them. On the contrary, interest groups focus on the policy side of the political environment, where they try to influence the policy decision making process. Even though both these groups are defined to have different operational functions, they have a strong relationship which has lasted for quite a long period of time. For example, interest groups such as environmentalists have close ties with a particular state’s democratic political parties. The close alliance that is experienced between political organizations and interest groups leads to creation of such a situation where the groups end up operating and supporting a particular political party. The most interesting connection between these two associations is the connection of campaign financing where political parties resort to interest groups for financial backing. Studies have shown that different interests groups have different relations to political parties. According to Brunell (2005), labor interest groups have a tendency of supporting democrats. Corporate groups, on the other hand, have a tendency of supporting republican politics. This is because different interest groups see different political parties as the means to their ends. Heaney (2010) argues that this happens because each (the interests groups and the political parties) use the other to achieve thier goals. While the political parties need the money given by the interest groups to carry out campaigns, the interest groups seek to see that the political parties have the groups’ concerns in their agenda. Another manner in which interests groups and political parties relate is through brokerage of information. There are several ways that Heaney (2010) claims this to happen. One such way is through the interest groups acting as brokers within party coalitions. Interest groups may also act as brokers “between parties, or between parties and other sectors” (Heaney, 2010, p. 578). On the other hand, “parties may act as brokers among interest groups, or between interest groups and other sectors” (Heaney, 2010, p. 578). Lastly, interests groups and political parties may compete against each other for the position of brokerage in other sectors. Explain how interest groups try to influence the president and Congress as these two branches work together to make policy? The main aim of interest groups is to make sure that the policies made by the government do not hurt their interest and are in the favor of their interest, for this purpose they use several methods. One such method is recognized as lobbying in which interest groups employ certain representatives who are in contact with the different branches of the government and who try to influence policy makers to work in the best interest of the interest group they are representing (Nownes, 2013, p.124). When a representative of a particular interest group is conducting the act of lobbying, he/she contacts different members of both the legislative as well as the executive branch and informs them about the benefits and costs associated with a particular policy and they even inform them about their desired policy position. Interest groups even influence policy makers by participating in different areas of election as they try to ensure that people who are in favor of their interest are elected by providing them financial and voter support. This is effectively done by the use of Political Action Committees (PACs). PACs are defined as political arms for interest groups. These arms have a legal mandate to raise funds for the purpose of supporting a candidate or a party. These funds raised are very significant in ensuring that political campaigns are successful. The interest groups therefore have the chance of influencing the candidates who support certain policies and by funding these candidates or parties they actually influence the policies that are made (Brunell, 2005). Still under the umbrella of lobbying, interest groups may choose to testify at legislative hearings. This is usually in the form of giving expertise information on certain issues that a policy may be touching on. Such extra information can easily change the direction that a policy will take. Such information is usually given by persons who are well known to be experts in the areas that they give information on. Interest groups are also actively engaged in the drafting of legislations aimed at tackling specific issues of interest to the group drafting such legislations (Brunell, 2005). Interest groups can also influence making of policies through grassroots lobbying and protest activities. This is usually accomplished through mobilization of people through door-to-door campaigns. The internet is also a very popular mode of lobbying for support at the grassroots levels especially through the use of interactive social network tools such as Facebook, Twitter among others. Other ways in which people can be reached is through making telephone calls, writing letters, and making use of adverts. Grassroots support is usually done by informing the citizens on why they should take certain stands concerning some issues. For this method to work interest groups must cultivate a strong and popular public image of what they do. The public must have a good of image of the interest group before the interest group can attempt to use the public in influencing the policy making procedures. The trick behind using the public in influencing policy making is that public opinion when strongly expressed by a substantial population can never be ignored by the policy makers (Brunell, 2005). The interest groups can also make use of litigation. This happens when an interest group feels it has not obtained a fair legislation or when it concerns have not been addressed well. In this case, the interest groups take the fight to the court. A popular past example given on the use of litigation is that of the civil right groups in the 1950s when they were fighting against unpopular policies which had been instituted. Most of the litigations were successful in ensuring that some policies the legislature had instituted were cancelled (Brunell, 2005). Conclusion Interest groups exist to champion the concerns that such groups believe are important to the members of the groups. These groups are often influential in policy making processes. There are various ways in which these groups influence the legislature. One such way is through influencing the candidates who vie for political seats by financing their campaigns. Political parties and interest groups depend on each other through such ways as brokerage of information and using each other to achieve different objectives. References Bardes, B. A., Schmidt, S. W., & Shelley, M. C. (20122011). American government and politics today: the essentials, 2011-2012 (2011-2012 ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Brunell, T. L. (2005). The Relationship Between Political Parties and Interest Groups: Explaining Patterns of PAC Contributions to Candidates for Congress. Political Research Quarterly, 58(4), pp. 681-688. Chapter 11. (n.d). Political Parties and Interest Groups. Essentials of American Government. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~rprovin/PDFs/Chap11Notes.pdf Heaney, M. T. (2010). Long Political Parties and Interest Groups. Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mheaney/LinkingPartiesGroups.pdf Newell, C., Prindle, D. F., Riddlesperger, J. W., & Kraemer, R. H. (2009). Texas politics (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Nownes, A. J. (2013). Interest groups in American politics: pressure and power. New York, NY: Routledge. Read More