Political Interest Groups

Patrick Murphy, Florida State’s representative said, “The political process does not end on Election day”. However in today’s political world, it is as though the regular everyday citizens of our country do not have a voice in the policies, laws and activities of the government past Election Day. That is where interest groups come in. Interest groups, also known as pressure groups, lobby groups, campaign groups, advocacy groups or special interest groups, are voluntary organization with the common goal of influencing public policy to change to benefit the common goal or cause of said interest group. Interest groups will often try to influence peoples in legislative bodies to support the goal of the interest group, ultimately leading to more
support for the interest group and eventually change in legislation. The goals of the lobby groups may be based on political, religious, commercial, moral or environmental positions. Goals may vary from changing legislation on usage of fossil fuels in the hopes of reducing climate change to advocating for more rights for women to reduce inequalities between the sexes. People can support interest groups which align with their views with the hopes of having legislation change in their favor or even create new groups and garner support from others with the hopes of having their voice directly influence government and their decisions. In this way people will have a voice in what happens in the government they elect. Interest groups exist to allow people to voice their opinions and values in the decisions and legislation being made in government, effectively giving more power to the citizens and people of the country they live in and support.
Different interest groups could be categorized into 2 very broad categories: Economic interests and non-economic interests.
Economic interest groups are the most prominent in almost all countries.
These interest groups will seek to change public policy to gain some sort of economic advantage for their members. The goals of these interest groups could range from how factories need to be run, for example, changing the regulations on how much carbon monoxide can be released into the air to how much the employees need to be paid to change in export or import and trade laws. Within this group, there are 4 subcategories: Business groups, labour groups, agricultural groups and professional associations. Business groups will represent the interest of companies and corporations that they are associated with. Labour groups represent the interests of the unions and therefore the workers. Agricultural groups represent the concerns of the farmers and the agricultural sector. Many professions have formal organizations which will lobby on behalf of the interests of the
profession.
Business interest groups often represent very large and powerful corporations and will have their own lobbyists to work on their behalf. If the goals and interests of companies or organizations are similar, they will form a larger group to lobby and work towards their business interests. An example of a business interest group is the United States Chamber of Commerce. Judging from the name of the group, it sounds very much like an official institution of the United States, however, this group actually represents many businesses and industries which operate in the United States. Its main goal is the push for more pro-business policies such as free trade and globalization. These policies would make it much less expensive for companies such as Wal-Mart or Target to import goods from foreign countries and thus increase the profits for them. The Chamber of Commerce will also lobby against policies such as the Affordable Health Care for America Act because it will decrease the profits made by the pharmaceutical companies that it represents.
Labour interest groups are often consists of the labour unions which represent the workers.
These interest groups aim to represent the concerns and interests of skilled and unskilled workers, which ranges from improving the working conditions of the workers to increasing wages to lobbying for more benefits. Like the business interest groups, labour groups will form together to create larger groups, which will have greater influence when lobbying. An example of a labour advocacy group would be the Canadian Labour Congress. While this labour group, like others, lobbies for workers’ rights, it also lobbies for social and economic policies which aim to benefit the workers and their
families.
In the agricultural sector there is a divide in the groups that represent the farmers. There are much larger agribusinesses that may be part of a larger corporation or company which will have their own group lobbying on their behalf and there are smaller farmers and family farms which will be part of a larger agricultural interest group. In general though, these interest groups will be involved in policies that affect local, national and international policies, including the prices of crops, import and export of crops, government subsides, land use zoning, and international trade agreements. An example of an agricultural interest group would be the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Professional interest groups are interest groups that represent the many varying professions outside of large businesses and the agricultural sector. These professions include doctors, electricians, teachers, students and many more. These groups will regulate practices, standards for conduct and other ground rules. Examples of a professional interest group is the American Medical Association and the BC Teachers’ Federation. The American Medical Association will represent the doctors and medical professionals. While the American Medical Association will lobby for the rights of doctors, they will also carry out charity work and promote medicine for the betterment of public health. The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation is very similar. While also lobbying for the rights and wages of teachers, the union will also lobby for increased educational funding and promote awareness for issues in education.