Interest articulation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Interest articulation is a way for members of a society to express their needs to a system of government. It can range from personal contact with government officials to the development of interest groups (e.g. trade unions, professional associations, religious groups) who act in the interest of larger groups of people. Interest articulation can have different effects in different types of government and can include both legal (i.e.: lobbying, lawful protest, phone calls and letters to policymakers) and illegal (e.g. strikes, riots) activities. Interest articulation leads to interest aggregation.

[edit] Types of interest groups

• Anomic Groups - generally spontaneous groups with a collective response to a particular frustration
• Nonassociational Groups - rarely well organized and their activity is dependent upon the issue at hand. They differ from Anomic groups in that they are usually similar to one another and have a common identity.
• Institutional Groups - mostly formal and have some other political or social function in addition to the particular interest.
• Associational Groups - formed explicitedly to represent an issue of a particular group.