CAS PO 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: American Farm Bureau Federation, American Bar Association, American Medical Association
2 Nov 2016
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Interest groups are organized groups of individuals or organizations. Educating their members and the public about key issues. Represent their members" interests by lobbying congress and the executive branch. Mobilize members for elections and grassroots lobbying. Encourage members to engage in the political process. Madison the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival [factions] citizens who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens. Madison also said that having many parties and interests will make it unlikely for a majority to take control. Theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government. Groups compete to influence policy, leading to compromise and moderation. Pluralism assumes that all sides of an issue are represented in proportion its supporters. The problem: not all interests are fully and equally represented. Groups do not organize for every side of issue.
