Describe the main types of interest groups.
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
1. Interest groups are people organized to pursue a common interest by applying pressure on the political process. We can distinguish the following interest groups:
- Business groups are groups that have a common interest in making profits. Examples include Google, Chevron, and Apple.
- Professional groups aim to represent the interests of a particular profession. Examples include the American Medical Association, the National Association of Realtors, and the American Bar Association, all of which have powerful lobbies in Washington.
- Labor unions aim to further the interests of labor groups. Labor unions, such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the unions that make up the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (the AFL-CIO), are the most important financial supporters of the Democratic Party.
- Agricultural interests such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, and the National Grange are powerful groups in Washington and have a long history of influential lobbying.
2. In addition to these, there are also interest groups that share similar social or political ideas (e.g., the Sierra Club and Greenpeace) and groups organized around ethnic or social concerns (e.g., the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League).
You might also like to view...
Which of the following statements represents an informal method used to adapt the Constitution?
A) The Supreme Court creates a specialized court to review requests for wiretapping suspected terrorists. B) The Supreme Court makes recess appointments to lower federal courts when the president delays confirmation of appointees. C) The president delegates to a federal agency the power to write regulations. D) Congress suspends civil liberties in a time of war. E) Congress passes a law that regulates business conducted between different states because of the commerce clause.
Which of the following questions is NOT one that needs to be asked by a critical reader of party platforms?
a. Whose platform is it, and what do you know about that party’s basic political positions? b. Do opinion polls show this platform was supported by voters at the time it was written? c. Who is the audience? d. What statements reflect values, and which are statements of fact? e. What is your reaction to the platform?