Negative Effects Of Interest Groups

A part of the “darker side” of Washington is considered by the American public as interest groups. Even James Madison described them in the federalist papers he wrote in 1787 as “factions” that could be dangerous. The modern day hasn’t changed much. People today largely agree with Madison in how they view interest groups. What interest groups do, how they are supported, and what their stances are an interesting mix of controversy, clash, and representation.

Interest groups can be both bad and good for democracy. The interest groups are able to lobby to congress to help out different organizations. They basically work on a “you do a favor for me and I’ll do a favor for you later” basis. This gives the lobbyist an influence over congress. They can be bad for the democracy because too much influence and power can be a bad thing. The issue they are lobbying for may not be a good cause.

Interest groups have a lot of influence over decision that the government makes and has made. These groups, when formed right, are highly organized and have a definite agenda they are trying to push that is important to them. Interest groups will lobby in congress as well as other levels of government to get new laws and regulations passed.

Limiting interest group is like cutting off the blood that flows through America’s vein. Interest groups plays a pivotal role in todays U.S society ranging from but not limited to; helping Congress and the administration to draft legislation and policy initiatives, provide information both to government and the public on a broad range of topical issues, and contribute significantly to political

Political parties are very similar in a sense to interest group because both are “seeking influence over the government” by electing their members to office (Lowi 493). I really don’t think I need to go into detail about this point/quote because it’s rather self-explanatory that for example, the republican party and democratic party of the United States are constantly going at it in terms of which party the next United States president is going to be affiliated with. But not just being the president, but also other members of United States government. Some roles of political parties consist of facilitating collective action in the electoral process, resolving problems of collective choice in government, and to deal with problems of ambition (Lowi 493). Basically, facilitating collective action is a political party’s job to get commitment from the people of the United states to commit to whoever the party’s candidates are and what they stand for. Resolving problems of collective choice is basically all of the party members understanding they have the same common opinions and they need to be open to compromise to make everyone within the party happy

They have do things like trying to either spend money or not to spend money on whatever their subject is. These interest groups are very important because they take a lot of things into consideration when making decisions such as if the subject is worthy of producing for the cost, the beneficial and negative affects it will have, and if it creates or eliminates jobs. In addition to the interest groups looking out for the common good the government also plays a role in deciding what is best for its people. All of these things put together create an iron triangle. The Iron Triangle is the relationship between the bureaucracy, congressman, and lobbyists. Tom Woods says that interest groups are beneficial to our country and that he sees issues in our government which is also described in the chapter. He continues to say that he doesn’t believe that much is going to change due to the fact that everything is based on

Truman defines an interest group as a group that makes claims upon other groups based off of certain ideals or issues. This is different from our textbook, where the textbook defines interest groups as an organization formed to share their issues to achieve policy goals. They are both formed off the ideals of shared interest, just display their ways of getting what they want achieved differently.

government assistance. The difference between interest groups and political parties is that political parties seek to constitute the government, whereas interest groups try only to influence it. Some of the things that interests groups seek from government are

“Interest groups are no less a threat than they are an expression of freedom” (Berry, 1984).

Interest groups are considered fundamental actors in American politics and evidence on interest groups repels the argument that elected officials let interest

During the 1950s-1970s, there was a school of thought that was popular when talking about interest group, and that is pluralism. Pluralism was plausible

I agree that the free market would run into serious problems undercutting its sustainability without regulation; however, the free market is as much a creation of the state that is highly influenced by interest groups. Interest groups play an important role in the formation of a regulation. Interest groups help candidates get elected into government. In return, interest groups can lobby for leniencies in policies that serve their interests. For example, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has lobbied the government of pipeline regulation, streaming of Fisheries Act, tax credits, and greenhouse gas regulations (as per Macleans.ca, The 10 lobby groups with most contact). If these private interests didn’t exist, would the general public lobby to increase tax credits to corporations? I don’t believe this is the case.

Says Grossmann on page 3, “interest groups often play a central role in setting the government agenda…[and] are often found to have a substantial impact on policy outcomes.” Many political candidates from both sides of the partisan aisle have run on a platform of neutralizing the force of special interests in Washington, and this illuminates why that’s an important issue. Special interests lobby because they have something to gain from the result of the policy, or those they represent do. It’s not always a nefarious intention, but the parochial nature of special interests is in conflict with policy that affects the American public at large, and those interests often win out because they wield power over lawmakers at the national, state and local

Interest group roots fall back on the constitution and the birth of the American version of democracy

     We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand, and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues, using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups’ concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident the issues their group supports. Their resources are used in an attempt to make their issue public policy. Interest groups are persistent; they do not give up until they succeed. They lobby congress, take legal action,