At present, there are approximately 3,000 different interest groups that are formally recognized by the European Union (Kirchner 2011). These interest groups represent a variety of interests and vary in the amount of influence that they actually have on the policy making process. These groups represent the interest of multiple sectors of both social and economic life within the European Union. Interests range from AGRICULTURE to BIG BUSINESS to HUMANITARIAN AID. In a truly pluralist nature, these groups are competing, either directly or indirectly, with each one another to have an influence in the legislation that is produced by the European Union. It is without a doubt that these interest groups within the European Union play an important part of the decision-making process. The blossoming interest group community within the European Union has both beneficial and detrimental impacts on the democratic quality of the European legislative process. By providing a background of interest groups and their influence in the decision-making process and comparing the role of interest groups within the European Union to those within the United States I will demonstrate the positive and negative qualities of interest group participation in the democratic process. In this paper, I will argue that interest groups are indeed a double-edged sword in affecting the democratic quality of European Union legislation.
Before this topic can be adequately addressed, I believe that it is necessary to clarify a general definition of an interest group. For purposes of this paper, I will refer to Rainer Eising’s definition of an interest group, because I have found it to be the most expansive and relevant towards the argument being made in thi...
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... of interest group lobbying far exceeds the negative; however the negative implications are of huge importance. Taking the current status of the full-fledged role of interest groups within the United States as a comparison to the nascent status of interest groups within the European Union, one can see the hazards of not addressing the negative discrepancies. It is my conclusion that the improvement of the democratic deficit as demonstrated by the interest groups thus far in the Union has proved the importance of interest group lobbying. Given this, I believe it is essential for attempts to be made by the European Union to mitigate the detrimental effects of political lobbying to ensure optimum democratic legitimacy into the future. The fact remains that at present, interest groups are seriously enhancing the democratic quality of European Union legislation.
Mahoney, Christine. "Lobbying Success in the United States and the European Union." Journal of Public Policy 27.01 (2007): 35-56. Print.
An interest group is any organization that seeks to influence public policy. Interest groups are found in many societies, America being no exception. Theodore Lowi, Political Science Professor at Cornell University, explores the effects interest groups, or liberal pluralism, has had and will continue to have on politics in the United States. Lowi authored the work in the late 20th century but his arguments are still plausible today. The work is split into four parts, beginning with the origins and background on liberalism in the Unites States, then moving into issues with liberal governments, and lastly the book deals with other government systems beyond liberalism. Lowi himself describes his work as a textbook inquiry into the character of
We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand, and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues, using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups’ concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident the issues their group supports. Their resources are used in an attempt to make their issue public policy. Interest groups are persistent; they do not give up until they succeed. They lobby congress, take legal action, and attempt to influence election results in order to benefit their cause. ”The AARP monitors local and national legislation of interest to its members.”1 The AARP, an example of a non-PAC interest group, focus their efforts to electioneering and media. They influence the elections through their voter guides, election forums and the large senior voting population. Through television, radio, and periodicals the AARP is able to achieve many of their goals to aid retired persons.
A Democratic Deficit in the EU The question over the legitimacy of the EU has been a nearly continuous debate and many commentators appear to agree that the EU suffers from a severe ‘democratic deficit’. There are many reasons why this perception is so widespread. As a multinational body it lacks the grounding in common history and culture upon which most individual polities can draw.
Do they play an important role in our democracy since they claim that they represent many people? There has been a continuing debate over the proper role of interest groups in the United States democracy. Interest groups are organized group of individuals who share the same ideas and their main goal is to influence media, lawmakers, and people with their ideas. On one hand, interest groups members and their leaders assert that they offer crucial information and services to the lawmakers and that lawmakers aren’t experts regarding every bill proposed
Essentially, interest groups use many different tactics to accomplish their central goals but this paper will detail 2 of them. The first being lobbying, which is the act of persuading businesses as well as government leaders to help a specific organization by changing laws or creating events in favor of that group. Interest groups use this technique by hiring someone to represent them and advocate their cause to on the behalf of the entire group. These hired representatives usually have more than enough experience within the political field and are able to persuade connections within the government for help with their concerns. This method gets a lot of criticism because although lobbyist offer their input to government officials on pending laws, they only look at what is favorable for their cause. When trying to make a difference you have to not only reflect on your argument but on the side affects of that argument as
Lobbying involves more than persuading legislators. Professional lobbyists investigate and examine legislation or dogmatic proposals, are present at congressional hearings, and teach government officials and company officers on imperative issues. Lobbyists in addition work to transform public opinion all the way through advertising campaigns or by control 'opinion leaders'. There are approximately 30,000 recorded lobbyists, other than that does not comprise the public relations experts, marketers, support personnel pollsters, and others who support their work. The majority lobbyists are hard–working professionals who comprehend how to find the way the political process, gain access to lawmakers and main executive–branch officials, and construct a strategy to accomplish their legislative objective. Whether or not you like the renowned place they engage in our system, lobbyists have turn out to be such an essential part of...
Schmitter, P. C. 2001. What is there to legitimize in the European Union… and how might this be accomplished? IHS Political Science Series: 2001, No. 75. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna.
The pluralistic scholar David Truman notes that “the proliferation of political interest groups [is] a natural and largely benign consequence of economic development” (Kernell 2000, 429). That is, as American economic development increases, in the form of industry, trade, and technology, factions are produced in order to protect special interests. Factions have a large platform on which to find support from various political parties, committees, subcommittees, and the courts, as well as federal, state, and local governments (Kernell 2000, 429).
Which EU institution is the most powerful? The European Union (EU) is currently made up of 25 countries, known as Member States, which together form the largest voluntary and peaceful block of countries in the world. Many people mistakenly view the European Union as a single body whilst in fact; the EU consists of a number of different institutions that together carry out activities on behalf of the Member States. There are many institutions but the main five being the Commission, the Council of Ministers (also called the Council of the European Union), the European Council and the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice. In this essay I am going to focus on these institutions and discuss which is to be considered more powerful.
One of the most controversial debates in the history of European Union (EU) is if there is a democratic deficit in the EU. On the one hand, many scholars argued that the democratic deficit exists in the EU. On the other hand, there are other scholars who claimed that there is not a democratic deficit in the EU. In this essay, the writer will support the argument that the democratic deficit in the EU exists and will propose how this deficit can be reduced. In the first part of this paper the arguments, which support the existence of the democratic deficit, will be discussed. After that, this essay will present the claims that there is no democratic deficit in the EU. Finally, as the argument of this essay is that there is a democratic deficit in the EU, is to present some ways, which can reduce the democratic deficit in the EU.
Pressure Groups and Their Influence on the Government Britain is often referred to as a homogenous society as the public. tend to share similar political views. However, more recently, there. has been a decline in membership to political parties and an increase. in the membership of pressure groups. In this essay I will define pressure groups, information surrounding such as the amount of power.
This chapter argues that “the study of environmental policy lends its self to contribute to several larger debates on the dynamics in EU policy making and the nature of the EU polity.” And also this Chapter is structured into three parts, “the literature review of ‘the emergence of the policy and highlight the turn from integration of domestic theories’, ‘environmental policy performance’, identifying three different perspectives that have been adopted in the literature ‘investigating the level of regulation’, ‘implementation, and effectiveness’”. Finally, “it establishes the link between environmental policy making and the more general process of a European polity making”. First, the emergence and expansion of the policy, moving from ‘”niches to center stage’”, these are directives which were adopted to deal with “dangerous substances, noise and exhaust emission of motor vehicle”. The EU environmental policy spread the idea of covering all environmental media (air, water, soil) and major problem areas (waste, dangerous substances/ chemicals, nature protection). Organized interests, environmental interest groups are shaping the policy agenda in “Brussels perspective” and influence the decision-making process, by using a mix of strategies ranging from ‘political pressure and campaigns for the provision of policy advice and information’. The im...
As a reaction to E.B.Haas and L.Lindburg’s Neofuntionalist explanation of European Integration, Hoffmann put forward an alternative analysis which he deemed more “realistic” in what concerned the role of states in the EU; Intergovernmentalism. He made two main points on the matter; the first was that national governments of European member countries are “uniquely powerful actors” and only make decisions aligned with their national interests. In simple terms this meant that national government decided on their own and for their own sake to join the EU or approve of a policy. Therefore disaccording with the neofunctionalist theory of the aforementioned “spillover effect”. The second statement; the integration process has limits refuting with