Paper: Interest Groups 2-25-2012 Interest groups are associations formed to promote narrow interests in the American political

system and consist of trade unions, professional associations, employers organizations and motoring organizations. These interest groups develop strong ties with the political environment in which they operate and influence the political systems to suit their interests. Furthermore, in the past, this influence has had an effect on the outcome of the elections of both the congress and the presidency. While their role is that of pursuing a mutual self interest, there is nothing in their definition which confirms nor denotes the moral nature of the goals they seek. Their interests are numerous in nature and stem from gun rights to raising environmental awareness. While history shows us that there are both positive and negative aspects of these groups, I believe that in the end they serve an important purpose in government. The US is huge, and is saturated with different groups of people with a multitude of interests. This situation, when asserting the utility of interest groups; implies two things. One is that the government needs a way to touch base with people who tread amongst these different groups as the body of people who are governed vastly outnumber the amount of government officials in office. In order for the government to make laws addressing various issues presiding amongst the population they must first be informed. Interest groups are the source in many cases and issues of minority interest that are often not addressed by either political party explicitly. These interest groups serve as a vital means of communication between the public and private sector, as well as between the people and the government. Number two is that when looking at our structure of government, we live in a constitutional democracy which inherently lacks in expediency. Unlike some countries, the process necessary to pass laws addressing problems in the US takes a relatively long period of time. Interest groups serve as a catalyst in hastening this process . What this process entails of course is that their be a mutual benefit met amongst both parties whereby both the interest group and the government officials both have some need met. As government officials pursue self interest just as much as those not in office, amongst their biggest interests is re-election. Interest groups

aid to this end through donations and sponsorships. While this may not sit well with many, this situation arises not from the interest groups themselves but from the political structure in which they operate. In sports, people will cheat and draw fouls if there is no referee in order to win. This is no different in the business world. The only remedy for changing the negative aspects of interest groups is creating new laws to help counteract there negative affects.