Special Interest Groups Influence On Politics

Special interest groups are a group of people, usually formally organized that share a common concern and wish to influence public policy in some way. The goal of all interest groups is to affect government policy for themselves or to further their causes. Over the last several decades, interest groups have multiplied and have made creating policy more complicated as policy makers attempt to fulfill a wide range of interests. As a result of the increase in interest groups, the American government has suffered due to all the different interests at play trying to get a say. This growing problem was a key issue during the 2008 presidential campaign and specifically within Obama’s administration. Obama has had to deal with interest groups all …show more content…
They need them to both support their election run and support them in governing once they become president. It is hard to decrease interest groups influence in government when presidential candidates have to rely on them so heavily. Another problem all the interest groups bring is that because they are all ideologically motivated groups it has made compromise a harder task to achieve and increased the already constant struggle within the system. Sometimes interest groups will flood Washington with letters, phone calls, or emails to get the attention of Congressional members. According to a study done, as of January 1st, 2009, there were more than twenty-seven thousand federal registered lobbyists representing a wide range of interests. Interest groups range from the National Cable and Telecommunications Association to the National Rifle Association. In 2008, President Obama faced the issues interest groups and lobbyist brought to the government head on throughout his presidency and took many steps towards …show more content…
Through his work with Senator John McCain, Senator Obama got the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) passed. It was Obama’s first attempt to slow down the “revolving door.” Its goal is to stop excess in privately funded travel and gifts. HGOLA is also trying to increase transparency and make it easier for the public to understand lobbying activities. Another particular focus of the HLOGA is that it makes it unacceptable for senior Senate staff and Senate officers to have any contact with lobbyists for two years. The HLOGA was seen as a good first step towards the reform of lobbying infrastructure in the government. During his time as President, Obama would continue to add policy to further the struggle against special interest groups and