What makes an interest group successful? Size of the group, its intensity, and its financial resources. While greater intensity and more financial resources work to a group’s advantage, smaller groups are more likely to achieve their goals than larger groups.

What is the most important and beneficial resource that lobbyists provide government officials? mobilizing public opinion.

consequence of hyperpluralism. contradictory and confusing policy. iron triangle. a form of subgovernment, composed of leaders of interest groups, government agencies and legislative committees.

Some of the more specific direct strategies that interest groups use include:

• Lobbying techniques.
• Rating government officials.
• Building alliances.
• Offering campaign assistance.

Groups use varied methods to try to achieve their aims including lobbying, media campaigns, publicity stunts, polls, research, and policy briefings.

These include recruiting and/or endorsing candidates, fundraising, phone banking, block walking, advertising. Interest groups use electioneering as one tactic to support the broader goals of the group.

indirect lobbying: Grassroots lobbying, or indirect lobbying, is a form of lobbying that focuses on raising awareness in the general population of a particular cause at the local level, with the intention of influencing the legislative process.

Indirect Lobbying Tactics

• Grassroots lobbying campaigns.
• Mass media advertising.
• Public opinion polls.
• Mass public opinion molding efforts.
• Elite opinion molding efforts.

What is direct and indirect lobbying?

Direct lobbying is therefore made up of one-on-one contact and the provision of information to try to influence legislators. Indirect, or “outside,” lobbying tactics are aimed at influencing the views of the general public, which will in turn affect the preferences of legislators.

Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress.

Direct lobbying has direct interaction with public officials to influence government decisions. Indirect attempts to influence government policy makers by encouraging the public to apply pressure to these officials.

How has the American tradition of “joining organizations” resulted in a wide range of interest groups? Joining an organization becomes an interest groups whenever it tries to influence the actions of government in order to promote its own goals. Interest groups tend to bundle it down to one specific or major issue.

Terms in this set (3)

• Criticisms of interest groups. influence far out of proportion to their size or importance.
• … difficult to tell how many people the group represents.
• … tactics used can destroy the American political system = bribes.

No. Government inspires interest groups to rise. Are interest groups and their money too powerful? With enough money people can get whatever they want out of their Congressmen.

What do critics claim interest groups are essentially doing by seeking to influence policy through appointments to relatively small components of state and local government? -Interest groups are permitted to contribute to political campaigns, and they can encourage their staff and members to contribute as well.

Interest groups are more likely to succeed when their request has low salience, or attracts little public attention. Legislators and bureaucrats do not have to worry about the political consequences of giving a group what it wants if the issue is not well known.

Interest groups are more likely to succeed when they try to block a change from happening (for example, lobbying not to repeal a law) than when they try to implement a change.

• stimulate awareness and interest in public affairs by developing and publicizing policy positions and by opposing those they see as threats.
• represent their members on the basis of shared attitudes rather than on the basis of geography.
• provide information to government.
• encourage political participation.

Interest groups represent the public or a group of organizations and perform various functions, including representing members’ interests and positions, participating in policy debates, educating the public about the issue, influencing policy makers, and monitoring relevant government programs.

what is the difference between private and public-interest groups? Public interest groups are those whose membership and, in some cases, investments are open to the general public. Private are essentially clubs with closed memberships and whose transactions are shielded from both public and government scrutiny.

someone from a private firm who helps with the campaign in terms of technology, strategy, creation of ads.