Interest groups are organizations that aim to influence government policy on issues important to their members. They differ from political parties by not seeking elected office themselves. Interest groups use lobbying, electioneering, litigation, and public support to sway policymakers. Successful interest groups tend to be smaller in size but more passionate, and have greater financial resources. Common types of interest groups include those representing economic, environmental, agricultural, equality, professional, and public interests.

1. Interest Groups

2. • interest group - organization of people with shared
political goals who want to influence the government
to make policies (laws, court rulings, etc.) about
those goals
• DIFFERENT than political parties
• Interest groups just want to influence the gov’t in
what policies they make; political parties want to
get elected to gov’t to make the policies
themselves

3. • single-issue group - a group that focuses on one
subject/policy, and works to accomplish that goal and
generally doesn’t want to compromise
• Factors that affect interest group success:
• Size (smaller groups are generally more successful)
• Intensity (the more passionate the group = more success)
• financial resources (more $ = more resources to influence
the gov’t)

4. How Interest Groups Influence the
Government
•Can affect government policies
through:
•lobbying
•electioneering
•litigation
•gaining public support

5. 1.) Lobbying
• lobbying - interest groups try to influence policymakers (ex: members of
Congress) to carry out their group’s goals
• representatives of an interest group that are hired to do this influencing are
called lobbyists
• Lobbyists can be considered experts within their policy field (ex: environment,
agriculture, economy, etc.)--> are important sources of information about a
policy (especially to members of Congress)
• Generally focus on lobbying/influencing gov’t officials who already think like
them

6. 2.) Electioneering
•electioneering – interest group involvement
in the electoral process through campaign
contributions (PACs), advocating for a
particular candidate, and getting people out
to vote for said candidate

7. 3.) Litigation
•litigation - influencing the court system to hand
down rulings favorable to an interest group’s goals
• Ex: if the Supreme Court is hearing a case that involves
same-sex marriage, civil rights interest groups would try
to influence the Court’s decision
• They do this by filing an amicus curiae (“friend of the
court”) brief to give more info about the topic and
persuade with arguments

8. 4.) Public Support
•Interest groups work to create a positive
image of themselves to the American public
•If an interest group has a lot of support from
the American people, they can use that to
pressure people in government to get things
done and to make the interest group’s
priorities the priorities of the government

9. Some Types of Interest Groups
• Economic Interests
• Labor/union groups - push for fair wages, work hours,
employee benefits, etc.
• Business groups - push for conditions that promote the
creation and growth of businesses
• Environmental Interests
• Push for protection of environmental resources, animal
populations, and land preservation
• Ex: WWF (World Wildlife Fund), National Wildlife Federation

10. • Agricultural Interests
• Interests of farmers and agricultural policies of gov’t (ex:
American Farm Bureau Federation)
• Equality Interests
• push for equality/fairness for groups in all aspects of society
(laws, pay, education, workplace, housing, etc.) --> especially
African American and women groups
• Ex: NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People),NOW (National Organization for Women), ACLU
(American Civil Liberties Union)

11. • Professional Interests
• Interests of groups that require professional training to do jobs
• Ex: NEA (National Education Association), ABA (American Bar Association),
AMA (American Medical Association)
• Public Interest Groups
• Push for collective goods (benefits that cannot be denied to anyone);
benefits for all, not just members of their interest group
• Ex: consumer groups like Consumer Product Safety Commission
(monitored/regulated safety of consumer products) or public interest
groups like Common Cause (for a fair, open gov’t) and League of Women
Voters