Essential Question
• How do public interest groups impact
the legislative process?
Public Interest Groups
Interest Group
• Group of people
who share
common goals and
organize to
influence
government
Defining Interest
Groups
• Support candidates
but do not nominate
them
• Concerned with a few
specific issues
• Based on common
values not geographic
regions
AARP
Sierra Club
Farm Bureau
National Association
of Manufacturers
AFL-CIO (labor union)
Work of Lobbyists
• Interest groups
influence
government policy
by direct contact
with lawmakers
Lobbyists
• Employed or retained
by a client or
company
Lobbyists
• Must register
with Congress
• Must report
activities and
areas of interest
Time, 1986
“Tempted by the staggering fees that lobbyists
can command, lawmakers and their aides are
quitting in droves to cash in on their
connections. For many, public service has
become a mere internship for a lucrative
career as a hired gun for special interests.”
Job of a Lobbyist
• Meet personally
with members of
Congress
• Provide information
on the position of
their interest group
Job of a Lobbyist
• May also testify at
a congressional
hearing
• Present facts to
congressional
committees
Example of Lobbying
• The House Committee on the Judiciary is
considering a bill to regulate the sale of
firearms
• Who will be impacted by this decision?
Political Action Committee
(PAC)
• Designed to collect
money and provide
financial support
for a political
candidate
PACs
• Must raise money
from at least 50
contributors
• Give to at least 5
candidates
• May give $5000 to
each
PACs Complications
• Problem?
• Government has not
limited how much a
PAC can spend on a
candidate’s
campaign as long as
the PAC does not
work directly with
the candidate
Federal Election
Commission
• Issues regulations
about PAC activities
• Corporations can use
their own money to
finance PACs
Public Opinion
• Ideas and attitudes
a number of people
hold about
government and
political issues