“The Context of the Problem”
The History of Powerful Interests Groups and Their influence in Policy Implementation and why it’s Important.
In order for the reader to gather a complete understanding of the actual role of powerful interests groups and their influence in policy implementation you first have to understand what and interest group does and how the group works internally. Interest groups are individuals who share the same common purpose and goal. These individuals share the same common interest for their causes; there are many examples present in society and your workplace many examples range from labor unions, religious groups and professional athletic associations. Many economists believe that the interest groups are motivated by two things political power and economic rent. In my opinion I believe that interest groups are formed from the people’s view of a major group representing an individual’s point of view of what’s right and what’s wrong; these organizations are made up of individuals who share the same interest and of individuals who wants to accomplish a political agenda, social agenda, or to celebrate a common heritage within the group. The history of interest groups and their roles in policy making stem back as far as President James Madison and the other framer’s of the Constitution when “they developed a constitutional system of republican government that takes organized interests as a given, and thus allows interests to weigh in on policy-making in various ways. In making the case for the Constitution's ratification, James Madison placed the problem of organized interests at the center of his theory of republican democracy. In "Federalist No. 10," he warns of the "mischief of factions" (i.e., organized interests) that could threaten individual or other groups' liberties. The remedy for the problem of factions lies not in trying to eliminate them, but in controlling their effects. One solution is to encourage the proliferation of various groups of different shapes, sizes, and motives so that no one group dominates the others in ways that undercut basic rights and liberties.” (http://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_14/dia_14_topic.html)
Where and Whom Does this Affect.
To identify where the problem begins and where it ends is very hard to describe but to whom it affects is easy because public policies affect all of us. The problem with interest groups and their influence on policy begins with the public opinion of the people. Public opinions have a huge impact on policy; politicians who serve in elected positions must attend to the wishes of their constituents if they want to be reelected. Funding these politicians are private wealthy sources; and the candidates know that t hey need to keep their sources pleased if they want to protect their campaign contributions. (PAC’s) Political Action Committees are organizations that raise money to elect particular candidates. These groups are known to be very influential in making policy decisions. One example could be the teachers union in the state of Florida PAC made sure the government provided vouchers for each school district. In Florida, for example, the teacher's union PAC played a huge role in influencing school vouchers. “Florida's largest teachers' union joined the American Civil Liberties Union and several rabbis and ministers seeking to halt a 2012 ballot measure they say falsely couches a push to allow school vouchers in the language of religious freedom. School voucher programs allow private often religious schools to use taxpayer money that would have otherwise funded traditional public schools to subsidize students' schooling. Florida has long been a scene of vitriolic debate over vouchers, with one side espousing concerns regarding the separation of church and state.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/floridas-teachers-union-sues-religious-freedom-amendment_n_905965.html) Making policy decisions ultimately depends on fiscal strength and strength in numbers. To whom it affects lies within the propose policy area in question. Issues that are personal and filled with lots of emotion such as abortion would be a perfect issue to address in the reasoning behind the influence of interests groups on policy making because there is no amount of money in the world a private source would grant a congressman to vote for or against abortion it’s too personal and there is no way a congressman and his interest group could determine the issue at hand knowing that there are genuine individuals that care about the issue in ways that are indescribable. Issues such as global warming are serious issues at hand and there are serious repercussions if laws are not followed but there is not enough clout and information about the issue to the people making it a less salient and complicated issue.
Purpose of the Research
The purpose of my research on this topic is for the me and the reader to get a better understanding of the ideas behind money and power and its influence of the interest group and the objective behind implementing legislature. The issue of policy making being influenced by powerful interest groups have been an issue since the 19th century and it looks as though there will be a continuum of research. The problem is; is that well funded interest groups can shape and influence the bureaucracy to affect the bureaucracy. “Interest groups provide a wide variety of goods and services to legislators in exchange for favorable action on state programs. For example, they often provide jobs to retiring legislators and those defeated in elections. On a day to day basis, they often draft language for bills that are introduced in the legislature, providing a service to overworked legislative offices while giving interest groups a shot at shaping the law they want right from the start. Not surprisingly, when asked about their relationship with interest groups, legislators often suggest that lobbyists are simply good sources of information that inform independent decision making. ” (http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/8_4_3.html