Interest groups also known as lobbying or advocacy groups are specifically organized groups with their main objective being influencing how legal systems , public policies as well as how political decisions are made. These groups however never seek to elected instead they campaign for or against a candidate or a political party. The political system in the United States is normally made up many different interest groups that have always been known to greatly influence various budget as well as different legislative process of the congress (Danziger 70). They play critical function in determining what values should be implemented or not by the federal government (This Nation, 2015).These interest groups get the government do what they want through a number of ways as outlined below.
Political campaigns- this is normally done in the United States through the Political Action Committees (PACs) created by the Campaign Finance Reform Laws and have been operational from early 1970s when reform laws created made limited for an individual to directly donate money for campaigns. This is the most direct and effective way through which interest groups ensures that the government does what they want. What the interest groups basically do is that they campaign or vote for a political candidate or a party such that once the candidate is power they can easily use the authority they have to advance their interests or rally the government to make changes by coming up with new policies that serve their interests (Danziger 69).
Some of the factors that influence the effectiveness of an interest group are the size and resource available to the interest group. As such, a comparatively larger interest or lobby group that has sufficient resources e.g. financial power and also that has many members all over the country can be more effective in influencing various policy processes (This Nation, 2015). An example of such a large interest group is the American Medical Association (AMA). However, if an interest group is relatively small with limited resources at their disposal then it means their influence on different policy process may not be very significant hence less effective.
Works Cited
Danziger, James N. Understanding the Political World. 11th ed. Pearson, 2013. Print.
This Nation. "ThisNation.com--Interest Groups." ThisNation.com-American Government & Politics Online. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 June 2015.
