How Interest Groups Shape Policy

Improved Essays
Pg. 315-328
How Groups Try to Shape Policy
• Despite all the factors already discussed regarding interest groups, no one group possibly has enough resources to achieve every single one of its goals.
• Therefore, these groups need to find other ways to produce income and strive towards success.
• There are four main strategies that majority of interest groups have been utilizing:
Lobbying- According to Lester Milbrath, a “communication, by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision”. o Just like the way a state has people representing them in the House and the Senate, a lobbyist is a person representing a specific interest group. o These people are often those who had served in Congress
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Types of Interest Groups
• No matter which tactic an interest group utilizes, it is important to understand that there are various different aspects of societies these groups can focus on.
• They have been categorized after being studied over the years: o Economic Interests
 All these groups usually end up fighting over issues related to minimum wage, prices, or business related.
 One big topic that usually comes up is how much the government should intervene with the economy, especially in a time of peace.
 Another issue that arises often is regulations related to taxes and how much subsidies each work group will receive.
 Labor interest groups have seen to have the most members than any other group, calling themselves unions.
 Their primary goals are usually to raise their paychecks and get better working conditions.
 Union shop- A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as condition of

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