Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Interest groups using political parties
The role and impact of interest groups on elections
Interest groups using political parties
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Interest groups using political parties
An interest group is an organization whose members share common political goals, and try to influence government policies that impact those concerns. Each interest group has its own representative, a lobbyist, to represent that segment of society. Other functions of an interest group includes providing a way for like-minded citizens to gather their resources and make a bigger impact, educating the public and the government, helping the government to build agendas, and monitoring government programs.
Sierra Club is a national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. It was founded by a group led by the legendary Scottish-American conservationist John Muir in 1892 in California. More than 630,000 people made up of the Sierra Club and devoted to the protection, exploration, and enjoyment of the natural environment (“Sierra Club,” 2013). Time flies; the Sierra Club is now the nation’s major and most leading grassroots environmental organization – with more than 2.4 million members and supporters ("About Us," n.d.). The Sierra Club has hundreds of thousands of members in chapters located throughout the United States. It is affiliated with Sierra Club Canada. Focuses of the club are to create the National Forest Service and National Park Service, as well as in the formation of individual recreation areas, such as Olympic and Redwood national park (“Sierra Club,” 2013). Sierra Club also protects millions of acres of wilderness, helps passing the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act; the club has opposed strip mining, the use of DDT, offshore oil drilling, hazardous wastes, most other forms of chemical or aesthetic pollution,...
... middle of paper ...
...ore people. This can also expand the membership network so as to get more members.
Everyone deserves a better living standard. Protecting our planet earth is the most basic but essential way to maintain a good living quality for everyone. This is also the motto and core believe of the Sierra Club. Knowing how sick the environment is, I am shocked. I am glad that there is a group of people working so hard to tell the public that what is beneficial or harmful to the earth. Sierra club’s comments on certain controversial are practical; nevertheless, I believe the club can be more aggressive and active in the congress in the future and to urge the government to strengthen the regulation of coal mining and tree farming. In the coming future, I believe Sierra Club will be as well-organize as it is. Likewise, the club will be more focused on air polluting related issue.
organizations such as The Sierra Club, Friends of Earth and the Earth Island Institute fought
Interest groups, lobbyists, large corporations, and PACs try to influence the congressional committees' bills so they can have a say in the legislative process. When an interest group hears about a bill that is being debated on in a committee, they try to influence a members vote and they try to get a part of the bill changed. For example, a lobbyist came to me on a bill I proposed on making health care plans have no minimum requirement on benefits the company gives to its patients. He told me about how he did not get the right treatments and tests done on diseases he has and now is suffering badly from them. It was because the health plan did not have to give him anything extra. He changed my mind on the bill, and I changed the bill to setting a minimum standard on benefits given to patients.
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
John Muir helped the development of the American conservation movement during the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The creation of the National Park Service, the creation of several major national parks, including Yosemite National Park and the creation of the Sierra Club were all because of John Muir. In the late nineteenth century America was in a stage of expansion and economic development that used as well as threatened much of the natural world. Much of the economic development was in the form of industrialization that took its toll of the environment with both its consumption of natural resources as well pollution. This expansion and economic development had adverse consequences on the environment of the United States. During this time of development many became aware of the damage being done to the natural world and attempted to prevent or limit this damage being done. It is during this time of both industrialization and spiritual awakening that the conservation movement arose with one of its most famous activists, John Muir.
I think it is agreed by all parties that it is an eyesore to see these people blockading the roads to prime tree-cutting land and bombarding our most respectable government with impractical proposals. It is not so Herculean a task to discourage these self-named “environmentalists” in their follies by paying them no heed. However, a new generation of them has sprung up. Citing how it is in fact profitable to protect the environment, they try to pull blindfolds over the public’s eyes. Therefore, whoever could find an easy and economically sound method of reclaiming these lost souls would deserve to be made the head of our nation at the very least.
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.
In 1989, seventy five percent of Americans identified themselves as environmentalists, and the number has continued to grow since then (Walls 1). Environmentalism is now the most popular social movement in the United States, with over five million American families donating regularly to environmental organizations (Walls 1). Environmentalists today focus on what kind of world they hope to see in the future, and largely deal with limiting pollution and changing consumption rates (Kent 1 and 9). Modern environmentalists also have much different issues than those Carson’s America faced. With climate change becoming more threatening each year, protection of the natural world is needed more than ever. Pollution has caused the warmest decade in history, the deterioration of the ozone layer, and species extinction in extreme numbers (Hunter 2). It not only threatens nature, but also human populations, who already suffer from lack of clean water and poisoning from toxic chemicals (Hunter 16). Unlike environmental actions in the 1960’s, which were mostly focused on protection, a massive increase in pollution has caused efforts to be focused on environmental restoration (Hunter 16). Like in the time of Silent Spring, environmentalists are not only concerned with one country. Protecting the environment remains a global issue, and every nation is threatened by the
They also point out how hunters do more than any other organization for wildlife and the environment. Our country was created by outdoorsmen who hunted and passed their knowledge of the outdoors to their kids. Hunting has worked its way down from the generation and we should learn to “pass it on”. Hunting is great for the environment and wildlife and should be preserved for the ages to come. Hunters are the biggest supporters of conservation financially.
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
"The Sierra Club and Our National Parks." Yosemite National Park. The Sierra Club, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
This is the biggest environmental organization with over three million contributors. Traditionally associated with the progressive movement, the club was one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world, and currently engages in lobbying politicians to promote green policies. Recent focuses of the club include promoting sustainable energy, mitigating global warming, and opposing coal. Sierra Club their mission statement is "To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives." (www.sierraclub.org)
Greenpeace is an independent organization campaigning to ensure a just, peaceful, sustainable environment for future generations. It began in Canada in 1971 and today has a presence in more than 40 countries with 2.4 million supporters worldwide. Greenpeace Australia was founded in 1977 and today we have more than 75,000 supporters. Prevent dangerous climate change by phasing out fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas) and replacing them with clean renewable energy such as solar. Use the 2000 Olympic Games to showcase and implement solutions to global environmental problems, including alternatives to toxic materials and renewable energy.
On the whole, I think that it is our moral obligation to protect the environment and its inhabitants. We must all contribute in protecting the nature. No matter how small or insignificant our actions may seem, they matter. It only takes 1 person to start a movement that could possibly lead to a major environmental breakthrough. Are you going to be that person?