Interest Group Formation

American Association of Retired Persons:AARP is a large organization and spent $9,900,000 lobbying in 2012. The AARP only donates to individuals, not parties. They choose to do this technique because it is the most effective technique and their large size

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell

It will forever be easier to set personal goals than to set goals that involve the participation and cooperation of others. Just because something is easier, though, doesn’t mean it is better; I consider “good” decision-making to be a practice that encompasses our fellows, rather than simply focusing on ourselves. To me, this is intrinsically linked to successful leadership; the leaders that I have observed as being most successful are the ones who do not only think of themselves.

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others” according to Bill Gates, while John Maxwell tells people that “Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.” Neither of them completely capture leadership, but at the same time, neither of them are wrong. To be a leader, one must empower and influence those they lead in order to get the results they want. Neither one mentions that a leader must be confident in themselves and show others that they are confident with the decisions they make for themselves and others. As president of the Italian National Honor Society at my school, it is my job to promote excellence in the course, as well as in the community. Since our society values giving back to the community, we put an emphasis on community service. Many of the other students in the society worried about completing their hours. I showed them that they did not need to worry about getting their service hours by completing all of my required hours for both National and Italian Honor Societies before the end of November.

In his book “Start With Why,” Simon Sinek describes the difference between leaders that inspire and those who simply delegate; he encourages readers to look at leadership with a new outlook, and he motivates people to act upon his vision: start with ‘WHY’ instead of ‘HOW.’ He supports his advice with anecdotes of events inspired by real people like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Write Brothers. He realized that these individuals all had similar leadership techniques, which happen to be the exact opposite of what other, less successful, leaders do. Sinek calls his formula “The Golden Circle” (Sinek, P.37), which provides insight for how people can be inspired, movements can be prompted, and organizations established. Upon finishing his book, I conclude that Sinek is onto something with his theory; in order to be an extraordinary leader, one must start within.

Citizen groups simply composed of concerned individuals work to influence policies and impose governmental change for the betterment of society and their fellow citizens. These groups aim to influence change for the good of the individual and of all, and, in a free-association fashion, they are not solely focused on the interests of a business or organization like many interest groups. Interest groups may be supported by any number of businesses or organizations driven toward the success of their respective industry or business. Citizen groups, on the other hand, band together to fight for a common goal that, ideally, will have a beneficial and lasting impact on all citizens.

A shy, young boy enters the doors of high school. For nearly one year, he does not know exactly who he is. He makes pretty good grades and in his sophomore year, he is accepted into the Beta Club. Through this organization he learns the obligation to serve others, open his mind, lead, and help join the movement to change the world for the better. “Let Us Lead By Serving Others” (The National Beta Club). The National Beta Club is composed of nearly half of a million future leaders that come together to lead and serve our communities. We are some of the brightest, intellectual, and intelligent people in the entire nation waiting to unleash our potential and become successful leaders. It is important to focus in on the word potential. Many of us have the potential to invent new things and lead, but unfortunately, we may possess the fear of failure and allow not succeeding

In Susan Cain’s “Not Leadership Material? Good. The World Needs Followers” essay, the negative effects of the glorification of leadership in college applications and American society are that leadership has become a status, and mixed talents people are disregarded when society only focuses on an “alpha” personality. When the students’ participation in a club is for the sake of leadership, a title which makes them look better for the glory of leadership, then the service becomes disingenuous. In addition, the negative effects includes an unwillingness to change one’s personality due to colleges overvaluing leadership. Society is missing a balance of leaders and followers because everyone focuses only on leadership. As a result, the number

Leadership isn't just about one person being in charge, it's about a group of people who strive

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

A gathering of individuals that tries to impact open strategy on the premise of a specific regular intrigue or concern called interest group. When people get disturbance, they are more likely going to create new form of interest group. We also did the same thing when our college increased our tuition cost. We have created the group which we call National Organization of Collegiate American Students Needing Help (NOCASH). Our motive was to persuade the congress, college administration or board of the college member to reduce our tuition cost, so we can easily afford our tuition fee. We understand we do have a lot of obstacles to achieve this goal, especially when we are grass root interest group. We know we cannot hire special lobbyist to lobby

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

To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.

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

group effort and, therefore, leadership and followership” (p. 13). We must know how to follow before we can be effective leaders.