Interest Group Influence

Legislators often utilise the agenda-building function of pressure groups to obtain information on specific legislative issues because pressure groups, particularly insider groups, are “recognised by government as legitimate spokespersons for particular interests or causes” (Grant, 2004, p. 408). This assumption can often be taken advantage of by insider pressure groups, as they are often able to “hire the most skilful and eloquent lobbyists, some of whom obviously gave a higher priority to pleasing their clients.” (Garnett and Lynch, 2012, p.

On the other hand, going to the public and using electoral politics is used by outsider strategies. However, several groups apply a mix of insider and outsider strategies. These groups employ lobbyist members participate in making government decisions in favor of their group. In the textbook is says, "Lobbying is a strategy by which organized interests seek to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of the legislature" (Champagne 445). People believe that people who influence the government has a direct contact with them. Nonetheless, lobbyists not only engage with all sorts of governments, on the other hand they also deal with the public too. Several of the people, lobbyist’s influences are Congress, the President, and the Executive Branch. Lobbying helps an interest group by somebody speaking of an interest, and the lobbyists aim to influence policy makers in a variety of ways. Lobbyists also try to influence the public with their cause. They will advertise to people such as animal protectionist will raise awareness that we should laws of protecting endangered animals living in the world. Several groups will go to the public when they do not have the resources, the contacts, or the experience to use other

Lobbying is a pretty complicated task as there are different parties involved and a lot of money has to be collected through funding to spend on lobbying. The way the idea of lobbying is carried out is not clear enough to call it transparent. Especially the amount of money spent on Food and Beverages makes it feel like something fishy is going under the tables. The amount of money spent on food and beverages should be spent on campaigning and fund raising and the details of the spending should be completely disclosed to the

In the United States, there are more than fifty different versions of lobbying laws in states and territories. On the Federal level, lobbying is defined as being “any communication made on behalf of a client to members of Congress, congressional staffers, the president, White House staff and high-level employees of nearly 200 agencies, regarding the formulation, modification, or adoption of legislation.” Though there is much disagreement about lobbyists, there have been laws enacted to try and control them and those who abuse lobbying. There is always room for improvement with regards to lobbying laws, because there is still your classic loop holes that people use to avoid being in violation of the law.

A well developed democratic state in my perspective is focused on the representation of each and everyone of the constituents in the land. This means that perhaps it takes longer to implement new ideas on a national level, but ensures that all of the individuals are accounted for. An institution design of a large populated state will require a well established regime and a government that can correctly represent of all the constituents, rather than be controlled by the voice of the majority. It will be a government that allows for the minorities and majorities to have the same opportunity for their voice to be heard rather than only the people wealthy enough to have power. This representation of the minorities will be at the cost of efficiency.

Lobbyists are a group of people who defend and advance their interests through lobbying which is to “inform, persuade, and pressure” policymakers to support the groups objective. With more policies set in place, the more lobbyists get involved and a great example is the financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. When the Obama administration stepped in and proposed to “repair the regulation and increase oversight,” the lobbyists were there to support and represent banks, mutual funds, credit card companies as well as companies in retail, manufacturing, and service that this proposal could affect.

Lobbyist- Someone hired by an industry to convince legislatures to make laws favoring that industry.

● A lobby is a group organized for this purpose, and a lobbyist is an individual who engages in lobbying

An interest group also known as a special interest group or a lobby is an organized group of individuals, organizations, or businesses who share a goal. The interest group forms an alliance in support of their cause to influence public policy and government officials in the group 's favor. The goal of the group could be focused on small group, such as the Japan Eraser Manufacturer 's Association; or the goal could be focused on a large public group, such as family and friends of public school-aged children in the United States. "The most important lobbying forces in any society are the various entities of government: national, regional, and local government agencies and institutions such as the military" (Thomas).???????????

If we look at history, particularly the nineteenth century, we can obviously say that bribing was one of the most used tactics. It was the fastest way to have decisions approved, but nowadays, it is very dangerous for interest groups to use any sort of sinister method. In general, the groups tend to abide by the law to give legitimacy to their claims. Moreover, with the 1995 Reforms, the Lobbying Disclosure Act allows congress to scrutinise the activities of interest groups and the interest groups must report all the information relating to their activities in a very clear and concise manner. But we will see later, that sometimes,

Moreover, different tactics are used by pressure groups, which can add to the success of the group as a whole. Paid political consultants offer to act as intermediaries between pressure groups and parliament. Lobbyists have three main functions. Firstly, to provide groups with political information and secondly to bring groups into contact with MPs or officials and vice versa. Thirdly, to persuade MPs or officials to back a particular issue or cause. For example, The ‘Snowdrop Campaign’ in 1996 used lobbying as a tactic to gain support for their ideas. This seemed to be effective, as there was a resulting gun amnesty, where 160,000 guns were handed in. Each pressure group is reliant on the public’s opinion. If the public opinion is good toward a particular issue or group, many MP’s are inclined to listen to the group with public support. For example, equal pay for women. Therefore, public opinion is one of the most important factors in why some pressure groups are more successful than others, Also, if the public widely agree with the cause of a pressure group, the bigger the possible demonstration may be.

The Environmental Defense Fund boasts an impressive membership of over 1.5 million individuals, making them one of the largest environmental interest groups in the world in terms of membership. While membership is technically ‘free’ for the organization, in order to become a member, you must first enter your contact and credit card information and select a voluntary ‘gift’ amount. While “other” is an option for the gift amount, in which one can enter $0, it is evident that the organization strongly encourages contributions and would greatly prefer monthly or annual ‘gifts’ is possible. Overall, the process of becoming a member is fairly straight forward, the only necessary steps to join is to enter one’s contact and

Lobbying has experience as business persons seeking to influence legislation represents a group or person they hire. Individuals and non-profit institutions can mobilize as a voluntary

The pluralist theory of democracy contends that people with common interests, organize in groups to solicit support and solutions to problems in relation to government. Research indicates a key element of interest group formation is the entrepreneur. The research suggests, however, the incentive for entrepreneurs to organize varies. Some say the motivation to organize is economically based, others say the motivation to organize is tied to a specific disturbance or event. Some contend patrons motivate leaders to organize interest groups, others suggest a more altruistic motive for group formation. My aim is to determine the driving force behind the entrepreneur

Several corporations end up cooperating with representatives in the government and the Congress to sway decisions which are being made to lead policy making. These persuaders are self-interests people with no regard for the general public good. Even though lobbying is accepted by the American Constitution, it is perceived by many such as the media as intrusion to the method of making public policies. However, it has turn out to be part of the basic method of making choices. Usually, individuals and business get involved in lobbying activities if some laws and regulations made are not promising to their activities. They are permitted to meet with Congress and representatives whom they consider can with no trouble be swayed or influenced; however, there are guidelines and protocols which must be abided