Chapter 8: Interest Groups

Chapter Outline

Pluralist and Elitist Views Both Explain the Group Process

Interest Groups Represent Different Interests but Have Similar Organizations and Membership

• What Interests Are Represented?
• The Organizational Components of Groups Include Money, Offices, and Members
• Group Membership Has an Upper-Class Bias

The Number of Groups Has Increased in the Last Thirty Years

• The Expansion of Government Has Spurred the Growth of Groups
• The New Politics Movement Focuses on Public Interest Groups
• Conservative Interest Groups Go Grassroots

Interest Groups Use Different Strategies to Gain Influence

• Direct Lobbying Combines Education, Persuasion, and Pressure
• Cultivating Access Means Getting the Attention of Decision Makers
• Using the Courts (Litigation) Can Be Highly Effective
• Mobilizing Public Opinion Brings Wider Attention to an Issue
• Groups Often Use Electoral Politics

Interest Groups Both Help and Hurt Democracy

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