Why Do People Join Interest Groups

More government in a country leads to the creation of more interest groups. What is an interest group? It’s an organized group with a common goal or objective that is trying to influence government policymakers such as congress through direct and indirect methods. They differ from movements such as the Civil Rights Movement or the Women’s Right Movement. For example, an interest group would be Environmentalists trying to conserve nature from companies who see the evergreens as an economic necessity. In similarity, the National Rifle Association is another example for an interest group because when the government in the late 1970s decided to regulate or even ban firearms, members became politically involved since their interests were being endangered.

This right to petition is protected by the first amendment. The people of America are allowed to lobby members of congress and government officials, sue the government, and submit petitions to the government. Furthermore, James Madison author of Federalist paper ten said that factions are created by, “[being] united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or interest adverse to rights of other citizens…” Nevertheless, there is always going to be individuals that have a similar mindset to you that will cause interests both individuals, but there will be people who disagree with your ideas too. In continuation, there’s several reasons why people join interest groups which are purposive incentive, solidary incentive, and material incentive. Purposive incentive is when individuals join because the satisfaction of taking action pleases you. Solidary incentive is when am individual feels connected with others that share the same ideas/topics they favor. Last but not least, material incentive is when individuals join groups because they want the benefits it offers like insurance and