Texas Interest 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.

Moreover, the Schoolhouse Rock presentation identified the major committees that play a vast role within legislation, but furthermore failed to acknowledge the significant influence of interest groups, lobbyist, and campaign contributors. Interest groups are pertinent to the legislation process because of their vast influence. While interest groups strive to “influence public policy” to benefit its members, it accomplishes this task by using inside strategies that “pursue a narrow policy of change and directly influence legislation” and through its relationship within the iron triangle that works to “seal off” external influencers that are irrelevant to the groups view towards public policy; thus leaving a “closed

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

Many controversial topics have surfaced recently, but one that tends to fly under the radar is lobbying. Lobbying is defined as a group of persons who work or conduct a campaign to influence members of a legislature to vote according to a group’s special interests (“Lobby”). Although average citizens are not fully aware of the issue, it is quite contentious in politics. For those who are against it, they believe that restrictions should be placed on lobbying because it distorts democracy. Lobbyists use money and cost-effective strategies to sway the opinions of lawmakers. Others see lobbyists as effective, political tour guides who help pass legislation. An analysis of the lobbying process reveals the outcomes are often

Amaya 2 Marlene M. Amaya Professor Sharifian GOVT-2306-73011 5 May 2018 The Committees I will be discussing the three committees that I would potentially serve in the Texas House and Senate; should I be elected for the position and or positions. There are several committees in the Texas House and the Senate that all play a significant role in the services and aid provided to the residents of each state; particularly speaking when it comes to the state of Texas. I will explain the functions of each committee and why my placement in such committees are justified. Additionally, the reason it serves my district’s needs, and how it emphasizes my experience and interests. As well as, the constituent service I would be most inclined to do, the type

Texas will meet the increased demands placed on it by an ever-growing population with continuing to focus on and expanding the four industries (cattle, cotton, timber, and minerals) that have dominated its history. The expansion and increased revenue of these industries will help Texas sustain and even nurture its population growth. For years Texas politics has been dominated by individualism and traditionalism. The tradionalistic and individualistic cultures that abound in Texas can make this issue difficult to solve. Expansion often brings change in the many political and financial areas of these industries.. Texas individualists have a negative viewpoint of government and are against government involvement or regulation in industry and Texas traditionalists favor wealthy individuals and

Rupchan Simkhada Sherry Sharifian Govt 2306 4th May 2018 When You Win “The Committees of Texas House are: Agriculture & Livestock, Business & Industry, Calendars, Corrections, County Affairs, Criminal Jurisprudence, Culture, Recreation & Tourism, Cybersecurity, Defense & Veterans' Affairs, Economic & Small Business Development Economic Competitiveness, Elections, Energy Resources, Higher Education, Homeland Security & Public Safety, Insurance, International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs, Investments & Financial Services, Pensions, Public Education, Public Health, Transportation, Higher Education Formula Funding, Interim, Partnership Advisory Commission, State Water Implementation Fund for Texas Advisory etc.”( house.state.tx.us)

All members of the Texas state legislature should have one common motive. That is, to represent the citizens of their state. Champagne et. al. states that “…members…are responsible for bringing the interests and concerns of their constituencies directly into the democratic political processes” (2017, p.211). In order to effectively do so, a member of the Texas House will represent roughly 168,000 citizens while a senator may represent more than 811,000 constituents (Champagne et al., 2017,

The Texas senate passed bill to control oil and gas companies activity, but the governor Greg Abbot is not letting to veto the bill. Even the Texas legislation has decided not to take care of community’s’ people. Also, they don’t have right to protect them. They only take care of money but, not the health of people. This is not only the problems of today’s. Infect, this problem is coming from ancient time. This problem is called the long tradition problem. Per the article by Texans for public justice reported that, “the energy and natural resources industries were the number one financial contributors to non-judicial Texas politicians in 2014.”it also states that 31 Texas senators earn nearly $ 60,000 for each person and 144 Texas representatives earn $ 25,000 each. The oil and gas industries are the economic sources. It proves that state of government only take care of finance and they oil and gas interest, but not the health of public. This statement proves that they control over local government.

In this essay I will compare and contrast the different legislative agendas of various interest groups involved with the Texas Government. An interest group (also called an advocacy group, lobbying group, pressure group, or special interest) is a collection of members that are determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. The essay will discuss the four kinds of interest groups, trade, professional, single and public, as well as provide one detailed example of each type. It includes examples from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas AFT, MADD and TexPIRG interest groups, which are just a few of the many groups in existence out, but it provides an idea of what different types of

Gaurav Sharma Professor Sherry Sharifian Texas Government 2306 SLO#3 April 24, 2017 Local Control in Texas In Texas, there are very many functional Interest groups and lobbyists that operate effectively influencing the policy-making processes. The Interest groups and lobbyists are in close association with policy-makers whereby they act as negotiators of democracy to the citizens who cannot reach the legislatures (Texas Vox: 1). This has impacted local control in Texas greatly. However, the nature of laws that have been passed recently in Texas shows that the policy-makers are diverging from interest from the citizens and favoring individual groups and companies. The following essay will address the impact depicted by Interest groups and lobbyists

The role of an interest group in the United States and/or Texas political system is

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

interest groups are activity involved in the legislature process (on the national level) seeking to

Limits cannot be placed on the amount of money companies and groups spend on lobbying in Texas because this money is not coming from the government or from taxes. This money comes from companies and groups who voluntarily chose to fund lobbyist agendas or pay for lobbying on their behalf. It is very difficult to control how much a group can “donate” to a cause or how much they spend lobbying without angering lobbyists or the companies who pay the lobbyists. If individuals choose to set aside millions of dollars to fund lobbyists, that is their own prerogative. Lobbyists are often seeking “face time” with legislators, which makes “the spending worthwhile from the lobbyists’ standpoint” (Ramsey). The