POLS 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Aarp, American Bar Association, Advocacy Group
6 Jul 2018
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Interest group: organization that tries to influence government"s programs and policies. In a free society, people would naturally organize to pursue interests. Trying to restrict people from organizing and influencing government would be a suppression of liberty. Views of james madison: pluralism -- many different interests are good for a government, provides protection from one interest dominating the others (checks and balances, free marketplace of ideas) The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with an upper-class accent. Look for voluntary donations and contributions, connecting to businesses and offering services to them (i. e. space for advertising, paid services), membership fees. Has become less important in the digital era as the internet has become more prevalent. Membership association (ex: nra) bottom-up structure-- members have a lot of influence in determining agenda, keeps members excited and passionate. Some benefits of a group"s success are available to all.
