To many, interest groups are an evil, albeit a necessary one, in a democracy, with the potential to corrupt the process and distort policy away from the popular will. To others, groups express the best features of democracy; they are both necessary and useful in translating the myriad of opinions and interests in the society, into representative policy.
To some observers, American politics is best understood in terms of group actions and conflicts. Although group influence can be exaggerated, there is no question that virtually every decision made in American politics, whether it is on a legislative committee bill, a congressional floor amendment, a public law, a presidential policy announcement, judicial opinion, or a bureaucratic regulation, affects one or more groups in American society (Ornstein and Elder 21).
The participation of groups in the American political process has its constitutional basis in the First Amendment's guarantees of "freedom of speech" and the "right of citizens to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Abuse of these basic rights, instances of inordinate group influence as well as outright corruption of elected political officials by lobbyists has led to reform and regulation of lobbying (legislation since 1946, mandatory public disclosure) (Ornstein and Elder 114).
Political parties and pressure groups are the major organizations involved in the political process and two characteristics almost always set them apart from each other: the manner in which they participate in political conflicts
and their membership base. Political parties have as their primary goal the consequent of power or a share in its exercise. They try to win seats at elections, and to take control of the government. Pressure groups, on the contrary, do not seek to win power themselves or to participate in the exercise of power. They endeavor, instead, to exert an influence on those who wield power, to...