Selected Aspects in the Development of Political Interest Groups

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, Martin Luther University (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik - Fachbereich American & British Studies), course: Einführung in die USA-Studien: American Government and U.S. Political Culture, 22 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Whether one regards the upcoming presidential elections in 2008 or any congressional election in the recent past, it is almost impossible to neglect the importance and influence of the organized interest in the political system of the United States. Both economic groups such as business groups, labor unions, the farmers and professional groups and non-economic groups like single and public interest groups, ethnic and idealistic groups or the intergovernmental lobby play an essential role in the political process. For instance, lobbying organizations play an essential role for the candidates in their election campaigns. They contribute a potential source of financial support. In order to persuade the candidates of representing their particular interest, they distribute huge amounts of money to their chosen candidate or party. This paper approaches the historical development of lobbying in the history of the United States and investigates how its deep embedding into American politics was made possible. Making this more clearly, the evolvements is divided into four main eras: The historical roots of the development of interest groups; conditions and tendencies leading to plurality; the early 20th century: The first era of organization and the 1960's and 70's: The rise of initiatives and interest groups. Explaining their development, it is on the one hand essential to note down the basic conditions that served as a fundament and helped to create a unique political situation in which active participation by organized interest was realizable. This can most usefully be approached by examining some of the most prominent historical documents in U.S. history. On the other hand, the implementation of this political participation and its change throughout the history has to be analyzed. Also, it needs to be approached how interest groups came into being by referring to the several types of organizations and the founding of particular groups as representative examples for the categories they belong to is going to be presented, as well. [...]