A pressure group or interest group is a formally organized association of people or organizations based on a concern to attempt to shape public policy toward its side (Berry, 2015). All the interest groups have the desire to influence government policy to profit its members or a particular segment of the society. For example, pressure groups can undertake influence the government to ensure subsidies for farmers. These groups attempt to succeed in their goals through lobbying in their favor. Other methods of achieving their goals include participating in election activities by conducting public awareness and promoting the issues they care and would like the government to address. In established political systems such as the United States, the groups are composed of people who have a specific and mutual goal of working to enhance their representation in government policymaking.
Pressure groups are usually formed by interested citizens (Berry, 2015). Unlike political parties, pressure groups do not seek to control or directly share the existing political power. They are merely composed of people with shared interest, occupation, aspirations, and opinions. Favorite interest groups in the United States include trade unions, business organizations, and professional bodies such as teachers, lawyers, and doctors unions. These are sectional interest groups because they represent a part of the community with a focus on the interest of their members. There are also public pressure groups which focus on furthering the benefit of certain groups of people and not just their members. They do not promote issues that lead to selective good but targets the public good. There are also movements that seek to champion a specific topic over a specified period.
Pressure groups have an essential role in influencing American politics that the citizens or their representatives cannot achieve on their own. They affect policies by the government through exerting pressure on responsible authorities to act over a particular issue. Because they do not have a political ideology, the people can benefit from serious and non-partisan political discussions.
The Role of Interest Groups in American Political System
In certain instances, the American political system has been shaped by the various pressure groups and movements. According to Birkland, pressure groups are vital participants in the public policy making process (2015). During the period when the election and campaign mood is not ongoing, the pressure groups act as a vehicle that keeps important conversations going, especially the issues they champion. For instance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a pressure group that seeks to ensure social, educational, political, and economic justice for every individual through the elimination of discrimination. The issues of equality usually become hot topics during the electioneering period in the US with political parties talking about their manifestos concerning how their governments will ensure equality and justice for all. However, the momentum is difficult to maintain when the elections are over. With pressure group such as NAACP, the government can be held accountable on the issues and policies can be framed to deal with equality issues through the pressure exerted by these groups.
Some interest groups have their members’ interest at heart. They represent various subsets of society such as teachers, farmers, workers, and other civil servants on issues relating to their welfare. For example, trade unions have a role to ensure that their members get a better deal whenever they are negotiating with the government. Lawyers, health professionals, and different industries have their representation that provides the policies governing their areas of work are fair and appropriate for their respective members. Without these pressure groups, it is difficult for the subsets to have their interest championed in the highest decision-making table.
How Pressure Groups Shape Public Policy
Pressure groups attempt to shape public policy by conducting public awareness campaigns that are informative on the issues they want to be discussed. They may organize seminars for the interested parties. They also file petitions to the government on behalf of the people to seek justice over a particular matter. The greatest tactic applied by these groups is lobbying to promote their agendas. They are capable of hiring representatives who are mandated to advocate their issues directly to the political class. Their efforts include communicating with the government representatives to discuss the effects of particular legislation. Interest groups use the media platform to articulate the issues they want to share with the public. Media is a powerful tool that helps them shape public opinion and policy. Also, through activities such as industrial actions, the pressure groups are capable of disrupting normal government operations to be heard. Through such tactics, the interest groups can form the basis of various public policies.
The pressure groups also can try to directly influence the elections may be through supporting certain candidate’s campaigns or mobilizing their members and other voters to partake in the polls. However, some interest groups attempt to educate the general public without influencing their choices directly but targeting to sway them in their favor during elections.
Interest Groups on Obamacare
President Barrack Obama’s administration was faced with various opposition regarding specific laws proposed, but the notable one concerned healthcare reforms. There were different pressure groups for and against the changes which would be made possible through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The legislation provided various rights and protection which would enhance fairer health coverage, especially the low-income earners. The overriding purpose of the Act was to reduce the spending by the government in the healthcare sector. Medicare and Medicaid cost the federal government about 10 percent of the national budget.
Majority of the interest groups that were against the Affordable Care Act were business and industry groups, notably a Washington-based trade group named America’s Health Insurance and the National Federation of Independent Business. These critics to the Act claimed that it would injure small businesses, increase the cost of health and lower economic growth (Morgan, 2013). As a pressure group, America’s Health Insurance Plans met with lawmakers to air their concerns about the law as a strategy to convince them to change the legislation. They told the lawmakers that the Act could increase the premium rates for the beneficiaries who are disabled and elderly. The lobby group also used robo-calls and emailing campaigns to target the Congress members (Morgan, 2013).
On the other hand, the National Federation of Independent Business joined a lawsuit filed by other attorneys general against the Act (Rosalsky, 2012). In the case, the pressure group argued that the US Constitution does not mandate the citizens to get insurance cover hence terming Obamacare offensive. Therefore, the two interest groups used lobbying and filing lawsuit respectively to oppose the Affordable Care Act by the Obama administration.
However, dozens of organizations and pressure groups supported the Affordable Care Act. For example, the National Women’s Law Center contended that the Obamacare had given several women a chance to have an inclusive care which was not available before the passage of the Act. The women-oriented interest group filed a petition in that regard urging the Supreme Court not to scrap off the Obama Care. The group that stands for women argued that the Act had improved the women’s health insurance market. Women suffered from high premium rates compared to men before the Act hence preventing them from buying covers for crucial services that they needed. Another interest group that supported the Act was the Coalition to Keep America Covered. The pressure group used various strategies to ensure the Obamacare stay. Through storytelling in newspapers, mobilization of the grassroots and advocacy services to individual lawmakers, the lobby group supported the protection of the insurance coverage which was under threat from the Republican Party (Cohn, 2016).
The Obamacare is a typical case study of how pressure groups can influence public policy. With other interest groups supporting the Affordable Care Act and others opposing it, the pressure groups helped shape the political environment around the health care discussion in the United States.
References
Berry, J. M. (2015). Lobbying for the people: The political behavior of public interest groups. Princeton University Press.
Birkland, T. A. (2015). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making. Routledge.
Cohn, J. (2016, November 14). Obamacare's Defenders Are Organizing To Save It From Repeal. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obamacare- stop-repeal_us_5829e541e4b060adb56f5466
Morgan, D. (2013, March 25). Lobbying Groups Ramp up War on Obamacare. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/03/25/Lobbying- Groups-Ramp-Up-War-on-Obamacare
Rosalsky, G. (2012, June 28). 'Small Business' Plaintiff In Supreme Court Lawsuit Against Obamacare Refuses To Disclose Mega-Donors. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/nfib-supreme-court-obamacare- donors_n_1632554.html
