Interest Group Action And Interaction example essay topic

The term interest group refers to any group that, on the basis of one or more shared attitudes, makes certain claims upon other groups in the society for the establishment, maintenance, or enhancement of forms of behavior that are implied by the shared attitudes... He also states that from the interaction in groups arises certain common habits of response, which are called norms or shared attitudes. What this means is that groups form because the progenitors share one or more beliefs, and that when individuals interact with these groups, the shared attitudes of that group become the attitude of the individual participating. This group interaction gives the individual a frame of reference to evaluate for himself other events and behaviors. What Truman is saying in his theory is not a new concept, in fact, it is just the age-old 'group mentality' theory. When someone becomes involved with a particular group, he assimilates himself into their collective.

Truman takes this theory one step further however, and applies it to American politics. According to Truman, interest groups have traditionally been neglected in our explanation of government. He says, however, that interest groups have been neglected because only recently has their significance been forced to the attention of political scientists. This is true because, excluding the last few decades, the number of formally organized groups in the United States been minimal. It wasn't until 1929 and Herring with his book Group Representation Before Congress was the novelty of interest groups formally addressed. It is argued, Truman says, that any attempt at the interpretation of politics in terms of group patterns inevitably "leaves something out" or "destroys something essential" about the process of "our" government.

He says, however, that the argument suggests that the things "left out" are the individual and a totally inclusive unity called "society" or "the state". But, he says, that the argument must assume a differentiation between the individual and the collective unity of a group, and this is not so. Truman says these assumptions are "essentially unwarranted". In our society, we do not find individuals unless they are already affiliated with a particular group, be it social, economic, or spiritual in nature.

Truman interjects that complete isolation is so rare that it has become a hypothetical situation. "The individual" and "the group" are at most merely convenient ways to classify behavior, two ways of approaching the same phenomena, not different things. The second difficulty inherent in any attempt at a group interpretation of the political process, Truman says, is that such an explanation must ignore the greater unity designated as society or the state. Were this in fact true, he says, then not only the interest group but even the political party should be considered an abnormality.

Men, wherever they are observed, are creatures participating in those established patterns of interaction that we call groups. It is man's nature to conglomerate for the betterment of his being. Except for the most casual, all groups involve power. These groups exert their power in two interdependent ways.

In the first case, Truman says, a group's power is exerted over its members. In the second case, presuming the group becomes a formal interest group, it exerts its power over other groups in the society. From Truman's definition any group, organized or not, that has a shared attitude toward goals and methods for achieving them should be classified as an interest group. Truman is essentially saying that since man naturally functions as a member of a group, it is more useful and accurate for political observers to define government as the interaction between particular interest groups. If we are to accept the sociologist's assumption that people act and interact only as members of groups, then it is essential that the governmental process be viewed as one of interest group action and interaction..