interest groups to effectively function. In essence, special interest groups seek to promote shared concerns so as to cause or bring about meaningful change (Erbschloe 2017). Some of the special interests that some special interest groups undertake include, but they are not limited to women issues, electoral justice, transparency in government, etc. In the U.K. there are a number of registered special interest groups. These include the Climate Group, Friends of Earth, Fathers 4 Justice, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, Amnesty International, Electoral Reform Society, etc. To begin… Continue Reading...
of firms, business organizations, and professional associations have increased rapidly in the last few decades, actually even overtaking the growth of public interest groups and other mechanisms of organized representation such as labor unions. The implication is that elected officials ultimately listen to the voice of their funders and sponsors, not necessarily their constituents. This is to say that increased economic inequality has reinforced enduring disparities in political representation and influence in modern America.
Does this mean that economic inequality and democracy do not go together in reality? In other words, can democracy really be achieved in the presence of substantial economic inequality? Bartels' evidence shows that elected leaders are "utterly unresponsive… Continue Reading...
their say in elections' outcomes as interest groups were not able to impact outcomes, and not because a larger number of individuals could now vote. With increased special interest group and advocate power, political parties' responsibilities shifted. They failed to reflect diverse political players and their actions, and failed to include blacks and females in political systems. Voter socialization and political education became pressure groups' missions. These transformations resulted in a novel political participation framework including informal… Continue Reading...
companies operating nearby—but as energy companies have powerful interest groups in Washington that interact with legislators and members of the judicial and executive branches, the EPA has shown…[…… parts of this paper are missing, click here to view the entire document ]…(Lewis, 2011). One can see from these two examples that ethics in business is essential. A business has to be transparent, honest, and committed to the values that matter to people in society. Otherwise it will be neither trusted nor trustworthy.
For the oil/gas industry it is essential that this same principle be followed. Ethics is imperative… Continue Reading...
special interest groups that throw money at elected (and unelected) officials to gain leverage in the government. Then there are the businesses, the major corporations that cozy up alongside government—companies like Google, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Goldman Sachs, and so on—corporations that make sure they get the best deals and the legislation they want. They can be considered part of the state power structure too. Then there is the Federal Reserve—the independent banking institution that was given the right to coin the nation’s currency in 1913. All of them take part in… Continue Reading...
interest groups. Additionally, public opinion shapes foreign policy. The threat of getting ousted from office for an unpopular decision typically restrains excessively-aggressive lawmakers. (Deutsch, 1997).
The Soviet’s disbanding was accompanied by a post-Cold War intermission in the US. It can be better understood now as a transitional era marked by insecurity, with the nation struggling to ascertain its role within a global system having no one existential threat remaining.
The decades-long Cold War’s culmination meant that military dissuasion was not so relevant to America anymore. Terrorist acts (e.g., 9/11) were more… Continue Reading...
that can bring together disparate people from various walks of life and interest groups. I am a tribal leader now, but know that I can be a more effective and highly functioning tribal leader when I aspire to shift focus from Level Three to Level Four.
If I want to move my Level Three tribes forward into Level Four, it requires the leaders to engage in gentle nudging of tribal members, as Logan (2009) points out. Each member of the tribe needs to come to a personal realization of the need for change, motivated intrinsically. In healthcare, one of the catalysts for… Continue Reading...
be considered the elite or even special interest groups. Although heredity does not factor into the Irish Seanad as it does with the House of Lords, Seanad members are not directly elected by voters but are appointed or elected via an electoral college. As with the House of Lords, the Seanad positions are divided between different types or methods of appointment. Some are directly elected by Trinity College graduates, underscoring the elitist elements in Irish society (The Republic and Politics of the Republic of… Continue Reading...
larger classes and interest groups.
The case of “Bloody Christmas” highlighted the issues police professionalization by showing that problems with this approach to policing. Instead of Parker holding the officers responsible he pressed for more autonomy. Instead of placing the police in a position where they would be accountable to the community, Parker asserted that he and his department must be able to police itself and discipline itself so that the city could not take advantage of it. It was really just a power play for Parker and he was using police professionalization… Continue Reading...
past decade, prostitution has been contested as policies, laws, and enforcement practices are repressive because of the ascendancy of interest groups committed to abolishing the whole sex industry. At the same time, some nations have decriminalized the act of prostitution. The book “Legalizing Prostitution” has been able to map out the current terrain and the backdrop of the whole discussion in America. Moreover, Weitzer has also looked at cities like Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt since they are popularly recognized as the long-standing red-light districts (Weitzer, 2012).
Acknowledgments by Weitzer concerning prostitution confirm that countries are trying to criminalizing the act with the United States pioneering the move (2012). All… Continue Reading...
