American Politicians
As Americans devote less and less time to an active participation in politics, they are increasing their participation in interest groups. As a result politicians are losing touch with the constituents that they represent. To the modern politician, the special interest and "the people" have become objectively indistinguishable. It is natural for people of like minds to want to form an interest group, and with the increase of public interest groups Americans are finding that no matter what their concern, there is a group for them to join. The irony is that with the advent of more and more interest groups, each group yields less and less power. Americans like to blame special interest for many of the problems going on in politics today, but some of their criticisms are unfounded. While there are instances where special interest are a disadvantage to the political process, for the most part they are no more than an extension of the first amendment that serves the purpose of informing the representatives on issues that they might not have a lot of expertise on.
As the strength of political parties continues to decline, individual members are gaining power. It is much easier for an interest group to target a single legislator than the whole party. In this regard interest groups have enjoyed a steady rise in influence. Legislators cannot be expected to see eye to eye on every situation in the United States. If an issue arises that they are not completely familiar with, they can listen to interest groups on both sides of the issue to make a better-informed decision. This does not mean that they will make a decision based solely on the information that the groups provide, but they can expand on that informati...
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...t decline. It has never been against the law to give a person advice, and according to the Supreme Court, it is part of your first amendment liberties to give "soft money". While it may not be the most ethical of democratic way to influence a government, it is a by-product of the republican form of government that has worked so well for over two hundred years. Until interest groups become a major problem recognized by the majority we will have to find a way to live with them. Madison stated in federalist 10 that there were two ways to get rid of interest groups that he called "factions": "one, by removing its causes; the other by controlling its effects." Madison and the founders thought that removing the factions was "a remedy that is worse than the disease." "The hidden causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man." In other words; learn to live with them.