How Do Interest Groups Influence Public Policy

In the United States, public policy is shaped by multiple factors, from average citizens voices in elections to interest groups and organizations. In their study, “Testing theories of American politics”, scholars Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens explore the impact of average citizens, the economic elite and interest groups have on the passage of public policy. Additionally through their, Page and Gilens(2014) have found “that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence” (Pg 535). This means that when it comes to the creation of public policies, rich people and groups

In a pluralist democracy like in the United States, interest groups have played a major role throughout the history through highly organized factions and are aimed at different levels of government. Lobbying is one of the tactics of the interest groups to aid their agenda through implementing new laws and regulations. "If you want to have your face in the light, you should have your back in the dark". Similarly, the influences of the interests groups and lobbyists have good and bad effects on the people and the society.

It is evident that interest groups have more of an influence than a citizen’s ability to

The United States has experienced fundamental changes that are dramatically detrimental to democracy. Voters’ ability to define political discourse has been so diminished that even decisive election results like Barack Obama’s in 2012 have little impact. That’s because powerful interests — freed to, in effect, buy elections, unhindered by downsized and diffused media that must rely on revenue from campaign ads — now set the rules of engagement. Lobbying involves working to bring pressure to bear on policy makers to gain favorable policy outcomes. In order to accomplish their goals, interest groups develop a strategy or plan of action and execute it through specific tactics. The particular strategies developed and the specific tactics used, however, vary widely both among and within political

They just do such thing which are beneficial for them, while doing that they don’t listen the voice of people’s what they want. Texas Medical Association, Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte are some of the examples of 21st interest groups. Texas Medical Association influenced the lawmaking because they proposed new rules under the Women’s Health Program would place a “gag order” on doctors violating their free speech rights and harming the doctor- patient relationship, by preventing them from discussing abortion with their parents (TEXAS RIGHT TO LIFE). Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte influenced lawmaking by spending $216,358,583 (Open

But interest groups do not have a real place in congress. For them to affect motions in congress they need to utilise their powers of persuasion to influence the right people.

There are many hundreds of interest groups in the United States, all advocating and arguing to change or defend someone or something that they feel is being threatened. Three of which are the National Rifle Association (NRA), the Dollar Coin Alliance, and the Sports Fans Coalition. These three interest groups, also known as lobby groups, advocacy groups, and more, are interesting in their own way. By comparing these three groups, the diversity and wide variety of these groups show how much variety there is in the interest group world.

You have put across some important points that I concur with. While it may look like interest groups are representing the issues of the majority, I think they are out there representing their own issues and those beneficial to them. Weaker interest groups do not have a fair chance compared to influential ones and this could be due to lack of political support, and inadequate financial resources which are both significant in the influence of an interest group. Regulation on how these groups operate could probably give a fair chance to most if not all interest groups. I like that you pointed out that "legislation is not created equal," because this lack of inequality is a good opportunity for an interest group to be created and help bring equality.

One key debate among the authors is what is actually influenced by lawmaking. On one hand, Hansen (1991) takes the perspective that lobbying influences the relationship between interest groups and lawmakers. Hansen bases his argument on the belief that because legislators want to be reelected and they lack information about the “issue preferences of their constituents, the salience of issues to their constituents, and the effectiveness of various policy options,” they will seek information to reduce this uncertainty. The service that interest groups provide the, is this information. Certain interest groups, Hansen argues have “competitive advantage,” (p. 13) in the sense that they can provide certainty about constituent beliefs in an efficient and effective manner, in order to help lawmakers get reelected. Given that elections re-occur, an additional point Hansen makes is for interest groups to have some kind of influence over lawmakers, the conditions that provide this competitive advantage must be expected to recur. When these conditions are met, interest groups

The way it works, is special interest organizations will often use lawyers or former government officials to reach out to individuals in positions of power. During this process, they will have them talk about issues which are most important to them and their members. This is designed to give these groups specific benefits by helping to shape the legislative agenda. (Hula, 1999)

People are important for the success of democracy. After electing their representatives, some individuals wish to be more involved in legislative decisions that affect them, so they take to lobbying and joining interest groups. This often provides them with an atmosphere of individuals who think like they do, while also allowing them to play more of a role than just voting for a few people to represent them. Lobbying and interest groups also allow for issues to be brought to the attention of the legislature and provide a way for these groups to talk to the legislators, whether it is over dinner or at a concert. By voicing their opinions and placing pressures on the legislation, these groups have become successful in fighting for their passions and their views on important

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, and attempt to

Skocpol (2007) shows that while as early as 1960 a number of national public interest groups were structured in a way that promoted grass-roots activism and required a number of local chapters. These membership groups gained the strength to engage in activism through the number of members they were able to mobilize. These interest groups, then, could claim to be representative of the general public’s interests because they were made up of members of the general public. However, Skocpol further argues that beginning in the 1970’s there was a shift toward more professionally run organizations. Instead of recruiting members to volunteer and mobilize, these new groups featured predominantly professional members and functioned through the use of lobbying. Instead of a high number of members, these new groups were primarily focused on raising money in order to lobby for more narrow interests. In 2001, only 12% of all Washington interest groups were associations of individuals (Schlozman et al.

From a broad perspective, it is integral to note that political parties and special interest groups alike markedly differ from one another. However, one particularly noteworthy difference, entailing the degree to which select topic(s)-of-interests are underscored, captures the very essence of such a stark contrast. Venturing deeper into the specifics, political parties typically address numerous issues, whether it be the mundane issue of “global warming” or more controversial issue of abortion. On the other hand, special interest groups specialize in one particular realm, whether it be an economic quandary or a prevailing environmental dilemma. In order to better elucidate upon this particular discrepancy, a commonplace special interest group

Overally, lobbying and interest groups are in the best interest of democracy. A recent study by lawmakers of Wisconsin, found that lobbying has a significant effect on legislative outcomes. Lobbying has a negative connotation for many Texans but it is essential to elected and appointed lawmakers who depend on the information, coalition building and public support of groups for their decisions.