Interest groups play a major role in the United States politics. These groups are associated with both negative and positive effects on the democracy of the United States. The interest groups are mainly formed with an aim of achieving certain goals that are best known to the members. This research paper will evaluate whether the interest groups have negative or positive impacts on United States democracy.
The interest groups engage in politics so that they can get political assistance to achieve their objectives. They do this by ensuring that they support politicians who will listen to them and take positions that favor them. They finance these politicians and influence their success. They therefore monitor the congress to ensure that the politicians they supported support their decisions (Bond, 101).
In this regard, the congress and the government may end up favoring the interest groups as opposed to the public. When a small group is favored as opposed to the greater majority, then democracy is infringed. In this sense, the interest groups affect democracy negatively (Geer, 71).
The members of interest groups in most of the cases appear on various committees appointed by the president and the congress. Therefore, there is no democracy in selection of the members of various committed in the united states’ due to the influence of the interest groups. These committed members emphasize on their own interests as opposed to the interest of the majority. This shows infringement of democracy (Dahl, 62).
The interest groups play a major role in facilitating debates. They finance television debates that makes the aspiring candidates to tell the public what they will do improve the welfare of the society. The candidates get a chance to sell their polices to the members of the public. People are able to make informed decisions by evaluating the policies of each candidate (Geer, 64).
These groups also move to the grass roots to help in electoral education. In the first place, they tell the people why they support certain candidates. They sell the ideas of different candidates so that the society can be aware of the policies to be adopted if a certain candidate wins. They therefore give reasons why they support certain candidates and help these candidates to win through campaigns and financial support. This makes the public to be well informed before they can vote. This improves democracy (Dahl, 98).
Research has shown that interest groups have educated citizens on the importance of voting. They go a step further to mobilize the people to participate in the voting process. This improves democracy since people are able to choose leaders of their choice hence leaders are elected by the majority.
It should be noted that the interest groups do not move to the Whitehouse or the congress to ensure that the politicians are making decisions that favor their interests. After election, the leaders have the freedom to make the decisions that favor the people they represent. Therefore, it is not true to argue that the politicians represent a small group. From this, it can be concluded that the interest groups have more positive effects on democracy than negative effects.
Works cited.
Dahl, Robert A, Ian Shapiro, and José A. Cheibub. The Democracy Sourcebook. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2003. Print.
Bond, Jon R, and Kevin B. Smith. The Promise and Performance of American Democracy. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Geer, John G. Gateways to Democracy: An Introduction to American Government : the Essentials. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
