Influence of interest groups on president Obamas administration - Research Paper Example

Influence of Interest Groups on President Obama’s Administration This research paper will expound activities of the interest groups that influence policy making in president Obama’s administration. To gain a better understanding, the research paper will capitalize with a particular interest group where it will explicate a particular activity the interest group is undertaking. The research paper will further espouse the general activities carried out by the entire fraternity of interest groups, which generally influence policy making in the current Obama administration. The research paper will consider the interest group called Center for American Progress founded by Podesta, which is a component of the economic interest groups that seek to lobby the federal government in order to implement policies that address the various aspects in the economy and in particular the education system in the Obama administration. Center For American Progress has recommended the involvement of labor unions in the education reforms that will help change the game in the education system. Center for American Progress recommends the government to develop guided pathways to success that will help the higher education system to develop a formidable and attainable success path that will lead students to successful careers (Klein, 2014). The established success pathway will allow the federal government to resolve the longstanding problem that has befallen the American postsecondary education system thereby enabling a clear success path that will enable students to identify their potential and eventually their suitable careers to venture. Under the recommendations made by the center for American progress, students ought to begin in a limited number of meta- majors, which entails a set of courses that the student should complete in order to meet academic requirements across a range of programs and disciplines. The move will assist students to complete a specific major while following a highly structured degree plan. The proposed recommendation from the Center for American progress addresses the tightly structured programs that student undertake within the semester thereby imposing flexibility to the students , which helps the students to access a wide range of courses offered during the semester with ease and under their discretion. The recommendation from the lobby group offers room to the effective use of technology that will enable trainers to pin point reluctant students who do not complete their assignments or attend lecture classes thereby allowing the trainers to intervene before the situation gets out of control. To achieve most of the recommended issues, center for American progress urges the department of education to ignore all major barriers that may come their way. Some of the barriers to ignore are spearheaded by political inclinations such as the influence of the Congress that opposes efforts to reform the education sector, which will help the department of education to fast- track the implementation of the recommend reforms. The recommendations forwarded by center for American progress provides provisions that facilitate policy solutions that are not prone to political interference. The recommendation provides policy solutions that do not require a hand from the legislature and thereby enabling students and employers to outwit the significant implications that would be realized, which ultimately saves the taxpayers. Center for American progress through its proposed recommendation calls on the secretary of education of United States to formulate and implement experiments that are authorized by the federal student- aid programs. The aim of this move is to establish and adopt quality metrics, which will enable the innovative strategies advocated in the education reform to be assessed. The recommendations forwarded by the Center for American progress urges all relevant stakeholders such as the organized labor unions, employers and philanthropic organization to embrace the intended education reforms. The move will assist the United States’ education system to have a toehold in the upcoming world conference on education for sustainable development, which will be held in November 2014.The conference seeks to carry out a review of the achievements and implementations that the UN decade of education for sustainable development has attained by displaying the initiatives and participants of the achievements. In general terms, United States have become more intricate with the augmented technological advancement, production of goods and services, business fields and a wide ranging line of professionals, which have thereby led the government to be more involved in the economy and society. The notion has led many individuals in the United States to embrace and involve themselves in organized interest groups that share their common interest in order to solicit support and solution that can help resolve their quandaries from the federal government. To gain a better understanding of the activities that the various interest groups undertake, the paper will espouse the various types of interest groups that individuals may join in order to push for their common interest. Interest groups may be categorized according to their common objectives of their group members, and such categories include economic interest groups, societal interest groups, ideological interest groups, public interest groups and government interest groups. Economic interest groups constitute of labor unions, business associations, and a wide-ranging line of professionals, which represents every aspect that may influence the economy, be it agriculture, travel, housing, insurance, telecommunications, sports only to mention a few. Societal interest groups focuses on interests that are inclined to individual’s traits for instance, race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion and sexual preference (Kleinschmidt, 2013, 167). An example of such a group in the United States is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAAP). Ideological interest groups may promote conservative, liberal, reactionary or radical political philosophy in order to augment their voice of advocacy. The interest group may capitalize on controversial issues such as abortion and the control of guns. Public interest groups work for the conventional concepts that may lead to a common good such as the human rights, family issues and consumer interests, which acquire a popular endorsement from the entire populace. Government interest groups may be evident at the local, state and foreign levels, which may push for the relevant policies and expenditure of the federal government. In United States, interest groups operate on reasons based on a common goal they are advocating, which members’ quest for their implementation from the federal government. The survivor of interest groups in the United States is coupled with various factors, which enables the interest group to operate. The eminent weaknesses in the political party’s loyalty, in the United States have enabled the interest groups to operate, as there are able to influence the policy-making organs of the government (Maxwell, 2012, 201). The notion enables the interest groups to fund their preferred political party during an election and in instances where the political party is declared the winner, the interest groups are able to operate, as they are involved in policymaking. Interest groups are able to operate in the United States because of the decentralization of political power to states and localities, a phenomenon called the federal system. Most of the interest groups accrue their members at the local and state levels, which later amass members from the national level. The federal system weakens the party system thereby making strict party discipline difficult to attain because of the social and economic diversity created, which helps the interest groups to thrive and operate in such an environment. In addition, interest groups in the United States operate efficiently because of the strong and independent judiciary in the American system. The courts are mandated to rule on numerous issues advocated by the various interest groups, which therefore leads these groups to seek legal procedures in order to achieve their objectives (Soifer, 2010, 143). Besides, the American tradition that allows unlimited freedom of speech, press and assembly enables the interest groups to catapult their advocacy no matter how radical their view may appear. In United Sates, interest groups may interact with their representatives in various ways. The interest groups may send their representatives to state capitals and in Washington D. C to address and put pressure to the members of the legislature and other policy-making agencies. The interest groups may engage in lobbying procedures that enable the interest groups to interact with its representatives in various dispensations such as the congress where policies are being implemented. The interest groups may take the podium in the congress to testify on a particular issue of interest, thereby enabling the interest groups to address their common agenda as members interact to raise the issues to address. Interest groups interact with their representatives and government agencies using media. The media provides the conduits required by the interest groups to vent their issues to the federal government and to its representatives, which enables the interest groups to reach all corners within the vast United States (Geer, 2013, 221). Interest groups may use political parties to address and interact with their representatives and the federal government. Interest groups may draft policies to their political parties, which eventually helps the groups to interact with the federal government. Interest groups interact with their representatives and federal government through campaigns during elections. The group may consolidate its representatives in order to raise funds that will help their desired political party during an election, an activity which has come out as a costly venture in the contemporary United States. The numerous interest groups in United States operate with opaque financing, which raises questions on how they manage protest and advocacy that cost these groups millions of dollars. Speculations suggest that many interest groups in the United States receive their funding from hidden support that may include insurers, unions or drug makers. Many organized interest groups such as the government interest groups receive their funding from the representatives and associations they represent. Interest groups in United States may influence policy and policy changes using political mediums such as political parties and the congress and the use of judicial interventions through courts. Interest groups may sponsor a particular political party, which after winning the election, the interest group may proceed to influence policies and policy changes. Interest groups are able to influence the legislature thereby affecting the policy- making organ. In many instances, interest groups have sorted the courts in order to influence policy and policy changes they are advocating. Interest groups using the congress have convinced the law-enacting organs in order to enact laws that the interest groups feel will address their common objectives. The interest groups may influence agencies responsible with rulemaking in order to enact and enforce laws that are focused on improving the status of the citizenry. Despite the numerous controversial issues the interest groups have raised, the groups have led to surmountable benefits to the American populace in all aspects, which, therefore, renders these interest groups as important mediums of advocacy when used in the right way.Work Cited Geer, John et al. Gateways to Democracy: An Introduction to American Government. Stamford, Connecticut, 2013. Print Klein, Aaron. New Obama adviser wants big labor to shape education. Podesta spells out ‘game- changing’ reforms in document. 2014. Web. Kleinschmidt, Ulrich et al. ApU.s. Government & Politics 2014. New York: Kaplan Pub, 2013. Print. Maxwell, William E et al. Texas Politics Today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Soifer, Paul. Cliffsnotes® ApU.s. Government and Politics with Cd-Rom. New York: Wiley, 2010. Print. Read More