Evaluate the impact and effectiveness of interest groups in US politics.

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Alfie West        6th October 2011

Evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Interest Groups in US politics

An interest group is an organization that is determined to encourage or halt changes to governmental policy, without trying to become elected. They do this by using their membership to pressurise the three branches of the federal government in the US; Congress, The President and The Supreme Court. Through them, members of the public are able to participate in the political system between elections. They benefit from a wide range of “access points” within the US political system, and can even use a weak and fragmented party system to their advantage, whilst also benefiting from election campaigns that are usually issue based rather than party based. In this essay I aim to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Interest Groups in US politics.

One of the impacts that interest groups have in American politics is that they represent the citizens interests and views, whilst also expressing their grievances. They are a significant link between the politician and the public, and provide an easy access point through which members of the general public may voice their opinions. For the majority of US citizens, interest groups are a way in which they can express their strongest views and for their views to be represented, such as pro life groups such as American United for Life. Their views are represented through all three branches of government, at the federal, state and local levels, not just by one Senator or Representative. This suggests that interest groups have a positive impact in US politics, because they serve as organization for ordinary Americans to have their views delivered on a governmental scale, which could lead to influencing government policy.

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Alternatively another impact of interest groups is that they increase the amount of opportunities for American citizens to become involved in the political process between elections, due to the fact that in the US participation in politics is seen as a virtue. The majority of Americans seek more frequent participation in the democratic process than the two days a year that primaries and elections deliver, whilst also offering an opportunity for many US members of the public to participate in a specific area of government policy, such as pro-guns or anti-war. This shows that interest groups are beneficial to ...

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