Interest Groups

POL 215

Interest Groups in Massachusetts

Interest groups, also called advocacy groups, are a fundamental part of the modern political system. In the media and in popular perception, they are often considered a negative influence on pure democracy. However, most people are in fact members of such a group. Really, they have been formed in order to provide an answer to a fundamental challenge. That challenge is that of the difficulty for an individual citizen to be heard in a system where government leaders have hundreds of thousands of constituents.

Interest groups answer this challenge by banding together many like-minded citizens. These can then present a unified message to political leaders. This process is sometimes referred to as lobbying. Interest groups can be...