POLI4395 · Political Science

Interest Groups in American Politics

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

This course is class-restricted to sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students.In representative democracies, political power and influence usually hinges on the strength of organized groups. Interest groups also play a key role in linking citizens to their elected officials in government. But interest groups do not arise spontaneously and there are significant disparities in whose interests get represented. To understand why this state of affairs persists, we will first explore the numerous challenges to forming, organizing, and maintaining political advocacy groups. We will then focus on what these groups do on a day-to-day basis to try and influence political decision-making (lobbying, electioneering, mobilizing). The course concludes by evaluating whether and how interest groups affect public policy. In sum, the course provides an in-depth examination of interest group politics in the contemporary United States.