Group Theory : Public Policy

An interest group is a group of people with common goals who are organized to seek political or policy objectives. However, these groups are unable to achieve these goals by themselves. Interest groups need a political figure such as the President of the United States to represent them and help achieve their objectives. In the documentary Frontline: Obama’s Deal, President Obama makes a healthcare reform that leaves interest groups to decide their objectives.

The definition of an interest group is any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy (Patterson, 2013). The two types of interest groups that influence the public are economic groups and citizens’ groups.

An elite is considered as the few in any organization or society who have power. (pg. 1)

An interest group is a group of people who try to influence government. Each group has a specific target area in which they desire to influence government policy. Many groups are single issue groups, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Others seek to influence policy in a particular field, like healthcare or civil rights. This usually involves discussion about a range of issues. In either case, interest groups exist to influence political decision-making at the highest levels.

A pressure group is a group of people with specific aims and interests. Also known as interest groups, lobby groups or protest groups, they try to influence political decision makers such as MPs and councillors to influence local or national policy and/or legislation. They seek to do so, either to protect interests of members (e.g. Trade Unions, NUT) or promote a cause (e.g. Greenpeace or RSPCA). Not all pressure groups are as successful as others, and there are many reasons for this.

Like political parties, pressure groups can be considered another system that connects the citizen more directly to government. However, at the same instant there are marked differences in both composition and function that define interest groups as different entities from larger political parties. According to V.O. Key Jr. in a composition appropriately entitled Pressure Groups; pressure groups "Ordinarily… concern themselves with only a narrow range of policies;" and unlike the goals of political parties, their intentions are to "influence the content of public policy rather than the results of elections." Nevertheless, it is a realized fact that special interest groups with

The need to feel included is part of our human nature, whether that be among family, peers or colleagues. People never want to be the odd man out. Being in a group gives people a sense of support. Things people wouldn't be able to do alone they’d do in a group because groups influence people to make decisions they normally wouldn’t make on their own. When people are in a group the make decisions based on others in the group, in order to fit in. When we are a part of a group we tend to groupthink.

Higher education attainment is one important parameter of national competitiveness in today’s increasing global world. Compare to 1990, today, the rank of U.S. in the world in four-year degree attainment dropped from the 1st to the 12th. Therefore, President Obama set a new goal for the United States to be first in the world again in college attainment by 2020, in order to remain global competitive, and fulfill the needs of the growing new jobs which requires more education of the new economy (The White House, n.d.).

An interest group ​is a voluntary or private organization that tries to change public policy to benefit either only the members or a group or society as a whole. Private interest groups usually benefit corporations or a specific group of people such as the American Medical Association advocates for doctors. Public interests groups take on roles to help push for policy that would benefit the nation as a whole such as environmental regulations. Public interest groups generally benefit the country as a whole. These groups help advance democracy by being able to convince elected officials to take their stance, usually something a single person would not be able to do. In this sense, it promotes popular sovereignty by allowing citizens voices to

Organized groups such as NAACP, MADD..ect. Are set to inform and give information to others who see the way they do. These groups are helpful with showcasing information within the organization. A group such as mothers against drunk driving are helpful informing drivers that drinking and driving is extremely dangerous. Drunk driving is life threatening. Mothers are especially cautious to drunk drivers due to the life of a young child or children in the vehicle. Drunk driving with a child in a car or drunk driving period is the worst thing you can do to harm yourself and others around you. Alcohol impairs your mind capability, your process of thinking what's right and what's wrong is all off. Now within all these groups there are positive and

Ever since there was a governing body, organized groups of people tried to influence it for their benefit. James Maddison called them “factions” and concluded they are the natural consequence of liberty, but that their influence should be limited. Organized groups of people working to promote their interests and their points of view on important socio-economic issues are today referred to as interest groups or lobbies.

Interest groups consists of individuals who share a common political goal and are united for the purpose of influencing government decisions to make up an organization. According to Walker (1983), “Interest Groups exert influence over legislators, bureaucrats, and the public” (p. 390). The goals of these groups are the represent the publics interest on certain topics. Interest groups survive off the common goals of the people and strive to represent their interest in way that will benefit the country and demonstrate the state American pluralism is in.

An interest group is an organization who seeks to influence public policy to achieve the goals. There are literally thousands of different groups in the United States. Without these important groups, many benefits that people have, such as healthcare, wage raises, education, are a direct result of a political interest group. One of the groups that I have interested is communications and electronics.

Elite theory is the belief that a wealthy elite runs the country. An elite is anyone who falls into the top ten percentile of the nation’s wealth. They are the wealthiest people in the country. The economic elite consists of the same people as the political elite, wealth equals power. In the article “The growing wealth and clout at the top”, it expresses that the economic elite, the richest ten percent, hold a huge percentage of the nation’s wealth and in owning this large percentage it gives them the power to manipulate or influence the government. The majority of the members of the elite do not occupy government positions themselves, but rather depend on elected and appointed officials to do their work for them. “In the 2012 election cycle

America is a nation of interests, which is why as a country we dominate political and economic aspects of our government. There are numerous concerns within the government that are predominantly related to sparks of interest involving social movements and other issue networks. An interest group is a collection of people who share a common attitude and seek to influence the government for specific end results. There are five main types of interest groups, which are; Economic, Ideological, Public, Foreign Policy and Professional.