Yo,
Today is all about ✨interest groups✨. What are those you may ask? Don't worry, I've got you. An American interest group is of an organized of those who are passionate about advocating for an issue they'd like to be paid attention to through fundraising, policy-making, and or disseminating information about their missions to elected officials in congress. In theory, they are to encourage Americans to become involved in politics. An Interest group's main goal is to have an effect on policy making in the American Government. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the NARAL Pro-choice America, and the Christian Coalition are all examples of powerful Interest groups in the United States. So, what makes an interest group powerful? Financial resources and membership size are highly effective in strengthening interest groups.
There remains a controversy surrounding the topic of interest groups within a Democracy. Author of the Federalist papers, James Madison believed that interest groups accompanied with his beliefs on pluralism, "extended the sphere in American politics." This meant that he believed that interest groups were similar to factions or small communities and the more of them, the less likely for corruption. Plus, membership allows you to participate and advocate for policies that adhere to your beliefs not only during an election, but year round. Craig Benzine, host of Crash Course, said it "participation is the essence of democracy." Right? While I tell you the pros of such system, the cons sit loud and important. To begin, many argue that the powerful interest groups overpower and crowd the smaller organizations. Like I said before, money is a huge factor in the development of interest groups as financial aid is helpful in strengthening the organization. Not to mention, a series of studies have proven that congress is more likely to enact laws that respond to the wealthy over the poor, completely contradicting the focus of democracy: equality. The question of whether interest groups weaken or uphold democracy is argued for this reason. Thus, I believe that neither side is correct because while pluralistic, there are systems in place which perpetuate classism, and as I said before, are the exact opposites of democracy.
Let's take a look at an actual interest group in America that some of you may recognize: The National Right to Life.
The National Right To Life is a powerful interest group driven by the belief in protecting human life, especially that of new life. With this, we are able to analyze the interest groups mission statement to understand it's purpose. The mission statement begins to justify it's "pro-life" or "anti-abortion" focus with, "America’s first document as a new nation, The Declaration of Independence, states that we are all “created equal” and endowed by our Creator “with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…” Our Founding Fathers emphasized the preeminence of the right to “Life” by citing it first among the unalienable rights this nation was established to secure." The presentation of a quote from the Declaration of Independence, appeals to the authors sense of logic, further emphasizing to the idea that abortion of "defenseless" life cannot be justified under the basis of our own historical documents. Not to mention, the page' colors are red white and blue, appealing to a proud American. In order to reel this reader in, the author's point of view resides in the idea that their political interest group is the leading organization for the "pro-life" movement, being the epicenter for organized action surrounding pro-life, utilizing their power to convince their reader to trust them. I began reading with an open-mind, until I noticed the hyper-links that can be found with titles such as, "Protecting Unborn Children from Dismemberment Abortions." These sort of words are heavily biased to fear-monger their audience. Rhetoric like this is exceptionally harmful because providing untrue names for medical procedures that people may consider is dangerous to the safety of women. Lastly, the organization claims to uphold diversity in their final paragraph. I found this portion of the artifact contradicting as they slander Planned Parenthood, a reproductive health clinic that focuses on providing affordable health care, and sexual education to underrepresented communities. This interest group is one of the most powerful ani-abortion organization, using it's limited opinion on abortion and political clout to sway the public opinion toward anti-abortion viewpoints.
Interest groups within American politics are an excellent opportunity for American people to advocate for their the change that they hope to see. But of course, our interest groups share the same system in which classism, racism, and sexism exist. It isn't whether I associate with "anti-abortion" or "pro-choice" but my point resides in the issues of our countries obsession with competition, eventually leading to disinformation, fear-mongering, or extremism in order to win over the public interest. Yet, that's my own opinion and I will absolutely not force it upon you. In all, I digress and you may form your own opinions on such matters.
If you would like to explore deeper into the psychology of interest groups, here's a study that dives extensively into American interest groups and the elite from students at Princeton University:
[ https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf ]
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