Interest groups are everywhere; they are the pressure groups the lobbyists the campaigners and the advocacy groups. Green Peace, Fathers 4 Justice, Liberty and Oxfam are just a few which operate in the UK. Interest groups work primarily to meet a specific objective, which is to get their viewpoints across to the politicians and hopefully influence their actions in favour of their group.

In democracies such as the US and the UK, interest groups are deeply engrained within the political system, but are they a benefit to society? The answer is YES and NO.

Yes Because...

• They allow people to come together and express their views.
• They act as a more efficient link between the people and the politicians.
• They encourage wider participation in public life and allow people to engage in the political process.
• They act as a defence for minorities, gives the minorities’ voice a wider reach.
• They provide valuable information to governmental departments based on their specialist  knowledge in their field
• They act as sort of a oversight for politicians carefully scrutinising their decisions.

No Because...

•  Their views are bias supporting their goals and objectives ‘Sectional interest’
• Can slow down the political process of decision making, acting as sort of a social barrier.
•  Causes suspicions of political corruption because of bargaining behind closed doors.
• Often interest groups who have greater financial backing and are more structurally organised find it easier to exert influence upon decision makers which means those groups who have less resources struggle to get their voices heard.
•  Threatening methods, some groups using criminal/threatening methods to get their views across.
•  The views presented to the political decision makers by the leaders of a group may be unrepresentative of the group.

 If you have anything to add leave a comment.