Download Interest Groups

 Public Policy-All of those things a government decides
to do
 Interest Groups-Private organizations that try to
influence public policy
 Positive aspects of
interest groups is they
help to stimulate interest
in public affairs (events
and issues that concern
the public at large).
They are most interested
in influencing specific
public policies, and they
keep close watch on
public officials
 Negative aspects of
interests groups are
that it is difficult to tell
how many people they
represent, they have an
influence far greater
than their size and
they don’t necessarily
represent the people
they claim to.
 Business groups – National Association of Manufacturers,
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National Association of Retail Grocers, American Trucking
Association, etc.
Labor groups – labor unions – organization of workers who share
the same type of job or who work in the same industry (AFLCIO, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
Workers, American Federation of Musicians)
Agricultural groups – National Farmers Union
Professional groups – American Medical Association, American
Bar Association, National Education Association
Various other groups that promote causes and the welfare of
certain groups – the American Civil Liberties Union, Veterans of
Foreign Wars, American Association of Retired Persons
 Work for the public good. They seek to institute
certain public policies that will benefit all or most
people, whether they belong to or support and
organization. Cleaner air and water, women’s issues,
etc
 Interest groups try to
create the public
attitudes they want by
using propaganda ( a
technique of persuasion
aimed at influencing
public opinion to create
a particular popular
belief )
 Propaganda techniques
– plain folks,
bandwagon, name
calling, glittering
generalities, transfer,
testimonial, card
stacking
 Interest groups use
lobbying to influence
policy. They use grassroots pressure. The
groups they speak for can
mount campaigns by
letter, phone, and
telegrams from the “folks
back home”. They bring
the word of “the average
voter”. Lobbying is
applied to all aspects of
the public policy-making
process.