An interest group, also known as lobbies group, or special group; is an organized group that is determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without any interest or attempts to be elected. Such groups are formed among individuals who share common ideas, views, beliefs, and commands; where they work hard in trying to influence government officials' decision making by presenting their ideas and beliefs directly to them (Wilson, 2009). There are countless interest groups that exist in the United States today, and there are several reasons behind their rapid growth and existence. One is the diversity of our nation and large amounts of immigrants from all over the world; having different cultures and backgrounds which lead to different views and expectations of the government. Another factor playing a role in the ability for interest groups to form is the nature of our decentralized political system and the manner in which the Constitution was written; giving citizens the freedom and many rights that other countries do not have. Since the Constitution gives people the power to choose who and how the nation should be governed, it gives them access to politicians and those holding seats in office, to demand and have the freedom to speak up about their expectations of their leaders. And lastly, the weakness of our political parties help set the stage for more and more interest groups to arise; using both areas of strength and weakness of each political party to influence policy makers. An interest group works directly with a strong political party to help achieve a goal, whereas its approach would be directly with the government where political parties are weak (Wilson, 2009). There are two kinds of interest groups; Institutional Interests where organizations or individuals represent other businesses and firms for specific issues and goals, and Membership Interests where citizens that may decide to join groups, whether it is out of a sense of civic duty or for some type of incentive offered to them for joining and supporting their groups. The incentives some individuals may be seeking are Solidary, Material, or Purposive; and the members' involvement in pursuing certain goals a specific groups might have depends greatly on the type of incentive they are after. Those with Material and Solidary incentives are a lot more likely to have little or no active roles in what their group does and accomplishes; whereas members with Purposive incentive tend to be more passionate about their beliefs and goals, and much more likely to play an active role in the group (Wilson, 2009). The groups that are currently existing in the United States are probably countless, between those that are formally and informally organized groups, but to name a few and their purposes, some of the impressive and admirable groups is the Advocates for Youth Organization. An organized group which was established in 1980, to help young people and adolescents make informed decisions about their sexuality and responsibilities toward sexual health. Their core values, which they refer to as The 3Rs, are the Rights of the knowledge and education on sexual and reproductive health, Respect of the youth and their choices while making and implementing policies regarding those matters, and Responsibility of our society to help inform, guide and emphasize the youngsters of their own responsibilities toward their own health, as well as others they come in contact with (Advocates for Youth). AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families is another organization which was formed to serve as the voice of women and children who are living with HIV and AIDS, and whose members also are health care providers and researchers, as well as victims of this disease and their families. AIDS Alliance is a very strong advocate in Washington D.C for the support and care of women and children affected by AIDS and HIV, and are heard in the debates of public policy (AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families). There are also hundreds of Anti-Abortion groups and leagues that exist today; in the United States and across the world. Pro-Life Action League is one of those groups, which was founded by Joseph M. Scheidler in 1980, the National Director of Pro-Life Action League in Chicago. The main mission of the league is to bring awareness to the public through the media, with the goal of stopping abortion through activism. The League's main activities include their presence outside abortion clinics where they pray and try to reach out to women to provide them with other alternative in the effort to try and alter their decision. Monthly public protest take place, where graphic abortion pictures and signs are displayed by abortion clinics and busy areas to help maximize the exposure to the public. Confronting the abortionists is administered everywhere pro-abortion is found; supporting politicians are pressured to vote against it. Promoting and training activists on how to go about their mission of saving the lives of the unborn; as well as broadcasting the pro-life message through the media. And through these activities, the Pro-Life Action League was successful in closing down hundreds of abortion clinics throughout the country (Pro-Life Action League). To help identify the relationship between special interest groups and political parties, clarifying the definition of roles of each makes it easier to gain a better understanding of the topic. An interest group is held together by specific goals to be achieved and is mostly fixated on that one purpose; therefore, it acts and works tirelessly to help advance its goal by influencing public policy makers in favor of its beliefs. Interest groups are not considered political in any measure, rather they consider themselves to be a link between the political system and pursuit of specific goals on behalf of the citizens. The intentions and goals of special interest groups is never to win an election or earn seats in office which is a significant political difference between them and the political parties (Brunell, 2005). A political party on the other hand is a group of individuals who share general views, but more flexible with their opinions on different matters, where debates would exist over certain issues within a single party. The goal of a political party is to win the majorities of voters for the maximum number of seats in Congress; where the winning party becomes the primary director in policy making. But in order for any party to seek elections, they must run campaigns, which require large amounts of funding in order for candidates to keep up with the race against the opposing party (Brunell, 2005). As special interest groups play a significant source of funding for campaigns of political candidates, it indicates the strong link between those groups and political parties. Also known as Political Action Committees (PAC), they distribute their contributions to multiple candidates and may choose to use part of their funding against other candidates during the election period. Although some interest groups are larger and stronger than others, the amount of which each one of their committees may donate is restricted by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent agency with an authority to regulate the finance of campaigns for President and Vice President, and both houses of Congress. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) was established as an enforcer for the rules and regulations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) which was enacted by Congress in 1971 in an effort to place restrictions on federal contributions by individuals to parties and political action committees (The FEC and the Federal Campaign Finance Law). The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) was formed with a primary mission to prevent powerful and wealthy individuals from having an unfair impact on the process of political campaigns and elections. Therefore, requirements were set in place of each individual or group that they must report all donations made to candidates; while placing restrictions on the amounts donated during each election period. To mention a couple of those restrictions, is that no person is allowed to make a donation in another person's name, and no donation over $100 is to be made in the form of cash payment. Corporations and labor organizations were completely prohibited by the Federal Election Campaign Act from making any type of contributions to federal candidates (The FEC and the Federal Campaign Finance Law). The Legal Dictionary defines Lobbying as “the process of influencing public and government policy at all levels: federal, state, and local”. Lobbying is a practice that has been protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, where any group of individuals advocating certain issues or causes may act as a link between citizens who share the same interests and government officials to try and influence their vote on those issues. The degree of influence any given special interest groups has, largely depends on its level of power and financial resources, and how much investing it is willing to put into political campaigns. Basically, any individual who attempts to alter or influence the view point of a government official to achieve a political goal, is considered a lobbyist and has the potential to make a difference in the process of policy making. However, the level of success is much higher for larger groups whose level of sophistication and financial abilities enables them to reach higher levels of government and stronger chances of their issues to be heard (The Free Dictionary By Farlex). Lobbyists play a very significant and important role in the legislative process, and have been in existence since the early dawn of Congress. But the process of lobbying is very complex and requires a lot of hard work and preparation prior to setting up any meetings with political officials. An individual or a group would need to do a lot of investigation and collect a significant amount of information about and issue or a cause they plan to advocate. Once the information has been prepared, it is then presented by a selected representative for the group to the targeted member in Congress; where the representative would try to pressure the member or policy maker of their point of view on a specific matter and try to influence to agree and vote in favor of their cause (American Government, 2008-2012). Politicians take the time to accommodate the requests of interest groups to meet and discuss countless issues and topics they try to persuade them to agree with because of the significant role those groups play in the candidates' election. Interest groups can have a huge impact during the campaign of a candidate, and can help significantly in the election of one who supports their cause over other candidates who oppose it. Since campaigns require large sums of money to help support them, interest groups are known to spend millions of dollars on campaigns to help elect their chosen candidate. This process is handled through the Political Action Committees; which has been formed to help restrict and regulate donations made by individuals and to help curb corruption in the election process (American Government, 2008-2012). Browne of Central Michigan University clarifies in a comparison between PACs and interest groups so they are not confused with on another. He describes the Political Action Committees as “unique U.S. Institutions that are organized to fund electoral campaigns” and Interest Groups as “one of several organizations, including political parties, that can operate PACs for tactical reasons”. The President and the Executive Office have no power to decide policy; it is Congress who has the authority in policy making and pass a bill. The President has only a power to veto a bill, but Congress also has the power to override his veto with two thirds of votes in the House. Therefore, when interest groups gain access, provide support in Congressional campaigns, and succeed in persuading members of Congress to vote in favor of their interest, they also play a role in the President's political relationship with Congress and the overall outcome of policy making between the two branches of government.