Argumentative Essay On Interest Groups

Interest groups in the United States have the primary task of influencing government policy, and do so in two significant ways: supporting the election of candidates who hold similar views on policy, and lobbying bureaucrats and elected officials. For the most part, interest groups require funding in order to effectively support the election of candidates, and certainly in order to effectively lobby. The concern that has been raised about interest groups is valid; people are concerned that the well funded interest groups, particularly those funded by private corporations and wealthy individuals, will lobby for legislation that serves a select few. The question, therefore, is whether to impose more restrictions on interest groups than those which currently exist. While it is true that millions of dollars are spent by interest groups on lobbying policy making officials, the majority of this money is spent on hiring lobbyists, producing data, and paying staff, and not on persuading congressmen with elaborate gifts. In fact, current

According to William T. Bianco and David T. Cannon’s American Politics Today, research suggests that “interest groups have very little influence”, and “there is no correlation between the amount of money spent on lobbying and a group’s success at achieving its policy goals.” However, two important points must be made in light of these facts. First, the data that is collected to show the amount of money spent on lobbying does not include loopholes that are exposed and allow for lobbyists to avoid reporting gifts made to policymakers. Second, the data only covers lobbying, and as has been discussed, a massive portion of the money spent on influencing policy is spent through election supporting, or Super PACs. When these two points are considered, it becomes apparent that interest groups perhaps have more influence than is