What type of interest groups are organized to promote policies that maximize profits and wages for their members?

The Character of Interest GroupsThe framers of the American Constitution feared the power that could be wielded by organized interests. Yet they believed that interest groups thrived because of liberty. Interest groups are a result of the freedom that all Americans enjoy to organize and express their views. Liberty would be denied if the government were given the power to regulate or in any way forbid efforts by organized interests.

1. Why do interest groups form?
   • An interest group is a voluntary membership association organized to pursue a common interest through political participation.
   • Individuals form groups in order to increase the chance that their views will be heard and their interests will be treated favorably by the government.
   • Interest groups are organized to influence government decisions.
2. What interests are represented by these groups?
   • There are several types of interest groups, among them business and agricultural groups, labor groups, professional associations, public interest groups, ideological groups, and public-sector groups.
3. What are the organizational components of interest groups?
   • The key organizational components of an interest group include leadership, money, an agency or office, and members.
   • Many groups are initially organized by political entrepreneurs with a strong commitment to a particular set of goals.
   • The organization must build a financial structure capable of sustaining the organization and funding the group's activities.
   • All interest groups must attract and keep members, but find the problem of "free riders" difficult to overcome because, whether the people join an interest group or not, an effective group causes a "collective good" which cannot be denied to nonmembers.
   • Groups provide material, solidary, purposive, and informational benefits to attract and retain members.
   • Interest group members tend to have higher incomes, higher levels of education, and tend to be in management or professional occupations.

1. Why has the number of interest groups grown in recent years?
   • There has been a dramatic increase in the number and types of interest groups over the last forty years.
   • This explosion has had three basic origins—the expansion of the role of government, the "New Politics" movement, and grassroots conservative activism.
   • The 1960s and 1970s saw an expansion of federal authority over a broad range of public policy issues and a corresponding increase in the number of interest groups to put pressure on government officials.
2. What is the "New Politics" movement?
   • The "New Politics" movement is made up of upper-middle-class professionals and intellectuals for whom the civil rights movement and antiwar movement were formative experiences.
   • These individuals would later expand into other public issues—e.g., the environment, public safety, and good government—that form the base of our modern public interest groups.
3. What is the conservative grassroots movement?
   • Conservative groups focus on many public issues, especially the right-to-life campaign, the tax structure, and the right to bear arms.
   • Many groups redoubled their efforts in response to Bill Clinton's administration.

1. What are some of the strategies interest groups use to gain influence?
   • The quest for political influence or power takes many forms, but among the most frequently used strategies are lobbying, establishing access, using the courts, going public, using electoral tactics, and bribery.
   • Lobbying is an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of the legislature.
   • Gaining access is the actual involvement in the decision-making process, whether it is in Congress or the bureaucracy. An iron triangle is an important form of access.
   • Interest groups use the courts to influence policy through the filing of direct lawsuits, filing amicus curiae briefs, and financing suits brought by individuals.
   • Going public is a strategy that attempts to mobilize the public through institutional advertising, social movements, and grassroots mobilization.
   • Groups form political action committees (PACs) to contribute money to candidates and support the campaigns of politicians sympathetic to the group's objectives.
2. What are the negative aspects of interest groups' influence?
   • The wealthy and powerful dominate interest group politics, leaving the poor and weak out in an undemocratic way.
   • Interest groups are often devoted to selfish causes.
   • Larger, less homogeneous groups have difficulty matching the influence of the organized, narrowly focused groups that they oppose.

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