How Interest Groups Influence Legislative Decisions.
The extent to which Interest Groups influence legislative actions and agendas is an important topic, and is widely researched. This paper will review the research of a handful of literary scholars and describe the attitudes and theories of each toward this commonly debated topic. I will address this topic through my understanding of interest groups" influence, solely based on my reading of the sources I will list further into this paper. While the evidence supporting one's feelings on this topic may lack empirical strength through direct observations, the relevance of this argument is valid nonetheless. .
The direct influence of the approaches these groups take in persuading legislators is numerous and often hard to measure. The two most significant actions these groups take to promote their beliefs and the interests of the people they represent, however, are campaign contributions and lobbying. These two techniques vary in the effects they have on political decision makers. Opinions on whether interest groups influence voting, or simply the agendas brought to the table varies from author to author. Richard Smith (1995) looks at both sides of this debate and explains the pros and cons of each point of view. Henry Teune (1967) seeks to evaluate the general attitudes of the legislatures toward these groups, and their effects on the progress interest groups make. .
Logically, the actions of interest groups will not be the deciding factor of the outcomes of every upper-level governmental decision, or any at that. But a clearer view of their importance is necessary and beneficial to the understanding of why certain laws are made.
Literature Review.
By reviewing the sources chosen for this research design a contrast between different scholars" views regarding this topic is formed. The theories presented by the authors of other studies will provide a better understanding of each other, and further one's understanding of political groups.