Interested groups, aka “faction”, “pressure group”, “special interest”, “organized interest”, can be defined as any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy. Interest groups serve to connect citizens with government by concentrating on issues directly affecting their interests. Business groups are by far the most thoroughly organized due to their advantages on superior financial resources and private goods. Labor groups seek to promote policies that benefit workers in general and union members in particular. Farm groups also represent a large portion of economic groups. Citizens’ groups are joined together not by material incentive but by purposive incentive. Most citizens’ groups are single-issue groups that have an issue-specific policy agenda.
In comparison to citizens’ groups, economic groups have the advantage of sufficient resources, individual economic benefits such as wages. Citizens’ groups have the advantage of supporting leaders’ political efforts because they want to influence policies, but they tend to be less organised and funded. Though citizens’ groups offer collective goods to the entire population represented, it indirectly creates the free-rider problem being that individuals can obtain the good even if they do not contribute to the group’s effort.
Lobbying refers to efforts by groups to influence public policy through contact with public officials. The action can be separated into two parts, inside lobbying and outside lobbying. Through inside lobbying, groups aim to gain direct access to officials in order to influence their decisions. Outside lobbying, on the other hand, involves bringing constituency pressure to bear on policy makers. One form of outside pressure may be grassroots lobbying, which is pressured designed to convince government officials that a group’s policy position has popular support. In the complicated web of influence during lobbying, there is an iron triangle that consists of a small and informal but stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who seek to develop policies beneficial to a particular interest. The iron triangle represents the pattern of influence in policy areas and is also known as the issue network, an informal group of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem.
During elections, a group’s contributions to candidates are funnelled through its political action committee. A group cannot give organisational funds directly but can do so through its PAC. The ceiling is $10,000 per candidate, $5000 each for the primary campaign and the general election campaign.
In comparison to citizens’ groups, economic groups have the advantage of sufficient resources, individual economic benefits such as wages. Citizens’ groups have the advantage of supporting leaders’ political efforts because they want to influence policies, but they tend to be less organised and funded. Though citizens’ groups offer collective goods to the entire population represented, it indirectly creates the free-rider problem being that individuals can obtain the good even if they do not contribute to the group’s effort.
Lobbying refers to efforts by groups to influence public policy through contact with public officials. The action can be separated into two parts, inside lobbying and outside lobbying. Through inside lobbying, groups aim to gain direct access to officials in order to influence their decisions. Outside lobbying, on the other hand, involves bringing constituency pressure to bear on policy makers. One form of outside pressure may be grassroots lobbying, which is pressured designed to convince government officials that a group’s policy position has popular support. In the complicated web of influence during lobbying, there is an iron triangle that consists of a small and informal but stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who seek to develop policies beneficial to a particular interest. The iron triangle represents the pattern of influence in policy areas and is also known as the issue network, an informal group of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem.
During elections, a group’s contributions to candidates are funnelled through its political action committee. A group cannot give organisational funds directly but can do so through its PAC. The ceiling is $10,000 per candidate, $5000 each for the primary campaign and the general election campaign.