Different Kinds Of Interest Groups

Interest groups are a necessary evil in the political sphere of the society. It consists of people with similar interest, taste, and aim regarding a country’s political scene. They have equivocal power of harming and at the same time aiding in the political conditions of a place. There are different kinds of interest groups each having different influential power in a country at occasions where one of the parties happen to be the ruling party. A party can be a ruling party if the member happens to be the president of a country and having most of the states governor as a member. Beyond having a member in prestigious post they are also seen as lobbyist, influencing governmental policies thus molding legislatures to establish their interest. What happens if these interests are not good for the society? You should note that these groups are very powerful as they often consists of powerful personality, and furthermore, been a group, they adopt the power of unification to push forward and enforce their aim and that means the likelihood of having these kinds of interest groups opinion aired and established are often great.

Interest group overview

The condition in a country or society is directly dependent on the kinds of interest group that is in power. If interest group are made up of gays, and lesbians, there is a tendency that gay marriages will be pursued and enforced, or if like in the case of some African countries, interest groups are primarily made up of greedy and selfish people, whose main interest lies mainly in lining their pockets with cash, and fattening their bank account, policies will be directed to enable these desires. On the other hand, if the ruling party is made up of people with deep interest of the people, country etc, they are likely to influence legislations that will enhance these functions. Considering this explanations, should interest group be eliminated? Well that will be a wonderful idea and possible in a non democratic society, because democracy requires voting and voting cannot take place without the structure of a party. So again, interest groups are indeed a necessary evil, you cannot do without them, and you cannot with them. Some schools of thought however, opine that interest group is different from political parties. If there is a truth in this, then it must be in their functionality because kinds of interest groups can make up of people who belong to a political parties, and political parties can comprise of members that belongs to an interest group, and they both one way or the other influence governmental policies. Functionally, political parties may die down after the period of political transition, interest groups continues to function. To create more understanding about different kinds of interest groups, the various kinds of interest groups will be discuss.

Public interest groups:

Interest groups are categorized in many ways; by organization, profession, structure, legal forms, inspirational character etc. However, a major and perhaps the most suitable method of categorizing interest group are based on the goals they pursue. The private kind of group aims at pursuing the sole interest of her members, while the public groups seek to obtain the interest of the general public and example of such is the consumer protection, enhanced environmental security, and many others.

Public interest groups

This kind of group is made up individuals sharing similar views regarding how a societal issue affects not only the members, but the society they find themselves. They allege to stand-for the general interest of the public as touching some exclusive lobbying goals like: anti-abortion lobbying, the killing of whales lobbying, etc. In the United States Greenpeace is an example of public interest groups. The main aim of public group is centered on submerging the private interest groups, especially ones that does not align with their interest and the society at large.

Economic interest group

This interest group closely covers the section regarding capital and labor groups. Generally, this type of group influences financial and all economy issues in a society like: labor group.

Professional interest groups

This is made up of professionals under similar professional interest. Examples are: the American medical association, American bar association. The American medical association is a very powerful group that fights against governmental policies in the medical or health sectors. In Germany, a version of AMA is established but this time it is called the German medical association established in the dawn of the twentieth century precisely 1900.

The one Issue groups

This interest group symbolizes very narrow interest, founded in the 1960s, and it is by far more in number in the USA than Germany.

Under the umbrella of kinds of interest groups like public and private groups, there are different types of interest groups already mentioned above. No matter the types, or kinds of groups, the aim is the same, and it is to protect the interest of their member and the nation as a whole by influencing governmental policies.

Different Kinds Of Interest Groups

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