Term Paper-Explaining Patterns of PAC Contributions to Candidates for Congress” to explore how interest groups influence political parties.
Political parties are groups of individuals who attempt to influence government policy through the election of their selected candidates. These candidates must answer the philosophical question, “Who have I been elected to serve?” Should their primary loyalty be to the party that helped get them elected or to the constituents they were elected to serve? At the same time, interest groups seek to influence elected officials and, ultimately, public policy. Interest groups are organizations of individuals with shared goals who try to influence public policy through, for example, lobbying, letter writing, grass roots campaigns, and endorsement of elected officials for example. Common types of interest groups are economic groups, social policy or ideologically based groups, public interest groups, and labor unions.
Review the article, “The Relationship Between Political Parties and Interest Groups: Explaining Patterns of PAC Contributions to Candidates for Congress” to explore how interest groups influence political parties.
Think about the influence of political parties on elected officials.
Consider the influence of interest groups.
