Interest Groups Chapter 13

Interest Groups

By: Krisna Mendoza

    

      What is an interest group? is an organized group of citizens one of citizens one of whose goals is to ensure that the state follows certain policies.  There are a great interest groups in a modern state, so many that it is hard to form a precise idea of their numbers. Interest groups are large and diverse in big countries such as United States. Interest groups are not confines to democracies or open societies.

       Interest group are probably the main vehicle in most states for representing public opinion and bringing is to bear in an organized way on the governmental authorities. Channels used to transmit public demands. The legal access channels are: Personal connections, Interest groups, Mass media, Political parties, Legislatures, Government bureaucracies, Protest demonstrations and strikes.  The political parties and the interest groups are different.

       Political parties aim to attain or maintain power, however interest groups do not have such an aim, instead they aim to influence decision making and the politicians. Second, parties blend various demands, not just support particular ones because they have to appeal to more people, however interest groups focus upon particular issues.

       Interest groups usually accomplished this fairly well; otherwise they would not be the workhorses of political advocacy that they are. However, there are three important barriers that keep interest groups from functioning. First one, not all interest groups are equally well organized. For instance, producer interests are always easier to organize than consumer interests. Also, some groups command a disproportionate voice in the interest group system because they have special advantages. Finally, most interest groups are not organized democratically. The side benefits of joining any interest group are called selective incentives. 

   There are possible solutions for the problem of free riding. The first one are Smaller groups  that are better organization and easier monitoring. Second, selective incentives for participants only. Third, coercion and punishment. Finally, education and inculcation. There are three types of interest groups: sectoral, institutional and promotional. Sectoral  represent a sector of the economy, they have huge financial power, and they dominate most interest group systems in most countries. Ex. Ford Motor Company. Institutional: they are established for purposes other than political activity. They are politically active only to defend their own interests. They would exist even if they do not have to do anything with politics. Ex: a public university, Red Cross. Promotional, they organize around an idea or a point of view.

        Promotional interest groups appear to be especially important in the politics of the United States, compared with most other states of the world. Ex: the Christian Coalition. Promotional interest groups appear to be important in the US than they are in the other countries, because:  The political parties in the US are weaker and less unified on policy. The US has two party system which does not have a room for small specialized parties, so promotional interest groups are more active. 

    There are three types of Tactics of interest groups: Control of information and expertise. Ex. Oil corporations know about oil business than anybody else.  Electoral activity: Especially for groups with large number of members to vote or raise money for certain candidates.  Use of economic power: M. Luther King managed to organize a boycott of the city bus system of Montgomery, Alabama. Public information campaigns: using media to enlighten the masses about an issue.  Violence and disruption: Ex. separatist groups. Litigation: Ex. to file court cases.  

     There are two types interest group systems:  Degree of organization: Ex: in some countries institutional interest groups are stronger and larger than the others, like Southern countries, in those countries armies and churches are stronger. Degree of direct involvement: it is the degree of direct involvement of the interest groups in government and administration.

     Pluralism: in pluralism no one interest group is able to dominate. The government is open to pressures from all types of groups, politics is a competition of different groups. Neocorporatism: all interests are organized and structured, the state deals with the interest groups directly. Ex: Scandinavian and Latin American countries.