The selective provision of information is one of the primary tactics used by interest groups to advance their interests. As a result, there are a significant number of legislations being effected in the country. The origin of the legislations can be traced back to interest groups. Interest groups have not only been involved in championing for the implementation of several important legislations that Congress enacts. They have also participated in writing some of these legislations. This is attributed to the monopoly of information that they usually have. At times, enactment of certain sections of the legislation involves writing the whole proposed legislation or part of it and using various mechanisms to introduce it to the Congress for discussion.
This scenario raises one question; why would legislators introduce a piece of legislation whose contents have entirely been written by an interest group? Congress allows to introduce a legislation in the House because in various legislative aspects, interest groups possess monopoly of information. Most often, interest groups choose to exercise this monopoly by ensuring that they are personally involved in writing the proposed piece of legislation. In a scenario where Congress denies them this right, the interest groups might simply withhold all crucial information that is necessary for the introduction of the legislation in the House. This indicates the significance of interest groups.
The inherent nature of interest groups is that they represent the grievances of a certain group of people within the larger population in a country. In most cases, such groups represent the interests of a small elite group members of which benefit a lot after the Congress implements certain pieces of legislation. As earlier stated, the primary mode of operation in most interest groups is using their monopoly of information to advance the grievances of their members. This monopoly of information is a great source of power that interest groups can exercise over various bodies in the country, which includes Congress.
The more pertinent information an interest group holds, the more powerful it is. In order to attain this objective effectively, interest groups also require substantial public support as a way of validating some of their interests. In order to obtain this support, most interest groups usually incorporate initiatives that have various aspects involving the public interest. However, this is general public exploitation since the public is merely being used to advance the various interests of the group. However, the greatest beneficiaries are usually the few elite whose interests are advanced by the group.
As much as interest groups serve to advance the interest of the members they represent, there are some that are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the general public and, therefore, seek to advance its interests. In addition to that, interest groups that seek to advance the grievances of selected elite have to incorporate some issues that directly touch on the general public’s welfare. Thus, in as much as their efforts are not really meant to benefit the general public, they intermittently end up doing so.
Interest groups are exceptionally vital in all countries. They play a great role in propagating for the rights of the minority in a country. However, they are often misused where minority elite groups use them for their gain, which ends up distressing the poor.