Are Interest Groups in the USA too powerful?

"An interest group is an organized body of individuals who share some goals and who try to influence public policy."
-- Jeffrey Berry - The Interest Group Society
Interest Groups are groups where groups of individuals can come together where they can make their ideas, needs, and views known to elected officials. Many individuals in our modern times associate themselves with an interest group regardless of how specialised the views of the group. The main role of interest groups is to influence policy decision making. Some key interest groups in America include the ‘Association of Manufacturers’ which represents 14,000 companies in the US. Many academics would argue that business and corporation play a key central role in American politics. Major corporations carry the prestige of being key members in the US economy. As many people’s view on elected officials are made on economic performance, many fear that anti-business policies will harm their performance in later elections. It is also known that many corporations will help fund the candidates who are in their favour and support their views and therefore business can be very effective interest groups. There are also key single issue groups such as the NRA, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Interest Groups are distinct from political parties as they do not seek elected office and therefore their power is to influence decision making rather than holding the power over decisions which are made. Asking the question whether interest groups are too powerful in the US begs the question that some people believe that interest groups hinder democracy and have too much of an effect on American politics.
It is said by some, that the USA is the ultimate pluralist society, in which interest groups are an essential part of the democratic process by enhancing political participation, providing a valuable source of political information and acting as a ‘sounding board’ for government officials. Therefore the actions of interest groups enable government to be both representative and accountable. This especially allows the views of minority groups to be heard in government and therefore policy will not simple appeal to the majority. The pluralist view is that interest groups provide a vital and valuable addition to any democracy in which the range of views and beliefs can be heard and therefore can be fed into the decision-making process. The value of interest groups in America is reflected in the First Amendment which protects freedom of speech and the right to petition for the remedy of grievances.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
-- The Amendment 1 of the US Constitution

Interest Groups enhance the scrutiny of governmental activity and also provides a check on governmental activity. As the elected officials want to continue to please the interest groups, they allow the interest to know what legislation is going to be passed and therefore the interest groups are able to influence the decision making process. A key benefit of interest groups is that they provide an educational function in American politics so that people’s decisions are more informed and considered. This happens at both the individual level and also at the lobbying level as direct access to legislators can have a large impact on the decisions that they make. It is also said by pluralists that interest groups give a powerful voice to groups whose minority status might otherwise mean they would have been ignored. An example is when the NAACP won success with their civil rights movement. Another key factor which has made interest groups in the US powerful is that of technological developments in recent years. Thanks to new technology participation rates have increased as the new technology ensures that all can participate.
There is however an elitist view to this argument. Elitists believe that interest groups are more likely to undermine democracy and they suggest that they are becoming ‘too powerful’. The concern of interest groups becoming more powerful is more of a concern in the US compared to in the UK. Many elitists believe that interest groups provide a dubious educational function as it is believed that much of the truth is distorted and twisted, therefore not giving the American people the full picture. Another point is that the lobbying system in America rewards only the wealthy as they can afford the best lobbyists and those who have many contacts. These lobbyists are usually congressmen who leave their post in Congress to take up job offers with lobbyists in order to therefore use all their links and ties with Congress to demand higher salaries which gives them a significant advantage over other lobbyists. This is known as the revolving door syndrome. The lobbying system also has another powerful way of influencing the legislative process and this is through the use of iron triangles. An iron triangle is a small, informal groups of lobbyists and congressmen who come together to develop policies that will benefits their combined interests. As the lobbyists are part of the triangle they have the power of choosing which legislator of bureaucrat is in the strongest position. This is an effective power of an interest group as iron triangles are hard to break and therefore the choosing of the legislators is a very important and powerful process.
One of the key arguments from an elitist point of view is that of money. In their view money just makes the system all the more corrupt. In recent years the importance of money in American politics has increased due to the rising costs of political campaigns. Interest groups are most influential and powerful during election campaigns and they often make generous donations to a candidate’s campaign which normally totals hundreds of thousands of dollars. It could be said that money is the key to whether an interest group is powerful or not. In addition to financing a political campaign, considerable financial resources are needed to maintain a presence in Washington between elections. An interest groups needs to fund professional staff to influence legislation affecting its interests. A interest group without a steady presence in Washington cannot exert the behind-the-scenes influence needed to be powerful and successful. Is it a common phrase in US politics that money buys nothing more than access however there are many concerns that this is now untrue and that money is buying a lot more than just access in the US. It is known now in America that without money an interest group is less powerful and less likely to succeed.
Interest group politics are however, seen as hindering democracy in the US as they give power to unelected and unaccountable individuals, and often rewards with good internal organisation and those which are a function of wealth and education. On top of this, interest groups often find it easier to stop legislation rather than passing legislation. For example when it comes to gun controls, NRA, or even healthcare reforms. By overloading the political system with a conservative approach to policy this results in the political system becoming a stalemate or gridlock.
It is easy to say the interest groups in America are corrupt and that the only key to being a powerful interest group is ‘money’. Many elitists believe that interest groups should not be a part of American politics. However the US is ultimately a pluralist society and interest groups do play a vital role within a pluralist democracy. This however does not mean that there are no issues with interest groups in society. There is a clear correlation with the amount of money an interest group has and the amount of power and influence it can exert. Therefore it is clear to me that there needs to be a credible, effective and enforceable system of regulation needs to be put in place. This will therefore make the system more democratic and hopefully restrict the power of interest groups in America as it is clear to me that the powerful (wealthy) interest groups need to be restricted to allow for the smaller minority interest groups to be heard and be given fair opportunity to voice their opinions.