Influence of Political Parties and Interest Groups on Government Policy

This article discusses the influence of political parties and interest groups on government policy. It examines the role of both groups in shaping public opinion and influencing policymakers.

Running head: US federal Government
US federal Government
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

In your view, which entity—parties or groups—has the greater influence on government
policy?
The political parties and interest groups play a crucial role in shaping of public opinion.
The parties act the role of intermediaries between the public and the government. A political
party is a group of some people who are united in order to win elections, to direct government
operations and to determine public policies (Roskin et al). At the same time, the interest groups
refer to some individuals who share common goals among them and take active stances in order
to influence the policymakers. Thus, it can be seen that both the groups have a common purpose
of influencing the government and its policy taking.
In order to achieve their goal of influencing the government policy, both the groups run
campaigns. However, while political parties can put forward its candidate while interest groups
cannot put forward its candidates. The political parties gather together some people with similar
political ideas (Johnson et al.). The political parties do not take part in the government activities;
rather they observe governments’ activities and condemn or criticize government in case of
fraudulency, unfair practices and so on. Often it is seen that the practical parties in opposition
influence government to change their decision by strongly criticizing them. On the other hand,
the political parties strongly influence government to take action. The major influence that
political parties have on government is that it can put forward its candidate for elections (Roskin
et al). The political parties who remain in opposition always remain under fear that parties in
opposition can influence the public opinion and win public vote as well.
On the other hand, the interest groups can only take part in criticizing the government.
The interest groups do not enjoy the putting forward its candidate in the election process

(Johnson et al.). Often it is seen that the practical parties in opposition influence government to
change their decision by strongly criticizing them. On the other hand, the political parties
strongly influence government to take action. The major influence that political parties have on
government is that it can put forward its candidate for elections (Roskin et al). The political
parties who remain in opposition always remain under fear that parties in opposition can
influence the public opinion and win public vote as well. The only means of influence the
interest groups can have over the government is the means of criticize and condemn. The
government remains under a threat that the interest groups by conducting campaigns can
influence the public opinions against the government. Thus, it is seen that the political parties
have the greater influence on government than the interest groups.

References
Johnson, Janet Buttolph, Henry T. Reynolds, and Jason D. Mycoff. Political science research
methods. Cq Press, 2015.
Roskin, Michael G., et al. Political science: An introduction. Pearson, 2014.