4b Intro to Political Studies.ppt

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
POL 152: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF
POLITICAL STUDIES
FACILITATORS : DR. DOMINIC DEGRAFT ARTHUR
DR. ALICE GYASI-MENSAH

Interest Groups
 An interest group is a non-governmental political institutions which
seeks to influence governmental policies or to act in accordance with
the interest of its members.
 Examples of interest groups include;
 Ghana Journalists Association
 Ghana Medical Association

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Cont’d
 National Association Graduate Teachers
 Ghana Bar Association
 Alliance for Accountable Government
 Let my Votes Count
 Ghana Union of Traders Association
 Association of Ghana Industries
 University Teachers Association of Ghana

Differences Between Interest Groups and Political Parties
 Objective
 Political parties seek to capture political power through elections and
control machinery of government.
 Interest groups only seek to influence government policies in favour
of their members.
 Composition
 Membership of political parties cuts across a wide range of the
society. That is, membership of political parties is open to every
section.

5
Cont’d
of the country’s populace
 Pressure groups is limited to only members of a certain profession or
class of the people.
 Special interests
 Political parties seek to control every aspect of public life
 Pressure groups are concerned only with an aspect of public policy
which affects the interests of their members.

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 Organisation
 Political parties are distinctly organised with a well-organised
leadership, constitutions, symbols, and programmes.
 Pressure groups may be not possess these features associated with
political parties.
 Tactics
 Political parties use constitutional methods such as organising the
forum, workshop etc.

7
Cont’d
 Pressure groups adopt some extra-constitutional methods such as
strikes, boycotts, demonstrations, and lockouts to seek the realisation
of the interests of their members or the public.

8
Similarities Between Interests Groups and Political Parties
 Both institutions engage in debates, symposia, boycotts and
demonstrations. Pressure groups may on some occasions, use
lobbying or persuasion to influence the decisions of policy makers to
formulate policies that will serve their members interests.
 The two institutions are both financed from dues and donations
members contribute towards the groups.
 Organisationally, they both have the same structure. Some pressure
groups have branches scattered throughout the country at the district,
regional and nationals.

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 They both elect their leaders through democratic means. In reality,
pressure groups and political parties are alike but the only difference
is their basic objective.
Types of Interest Groups
 Associational Interest Groups-are organised to achieve the specific
interest of their members. Associational interest groups may be either
promotional or protective interest groups.
 Promotional groups advocate ideas, identities, policies and values-
focus on issues such as abortion, pornography, same sex etc.
 Protective groups are organised to protect common social and
economic interests of their members.

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 Anomic Interest Groups
 They are formed out of concern over a specific issue. The formation
of anomic pressure groups is in sudden response of scores of
individuals to frustration, disappointment or strong emotions.
 That is the formation of the group is not pre-arranged or formally
planned.
 They are usually do not haver formal organisational structures and
permanent leadership.
 Examples are Alliance for change
 Alliance for Accountable Governance

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 Institutional Interest Groups
 These are organisations which are closely connected to the
government and act internally to influence public decisions.
 They are considered to be part of government machinery and attempt
to influence in and through the machinery.
 Institutional interest groups are relatively well structured and become
active in order to defend their own interest.
 Examples are Public or civil servant bureaucracy and military.

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Modes of Operation of Interest Groups
 Interest groups are formed to influence government policy and to
serve the interests of their members. They use several methods to
achieve their objectives. They are as follows:
 Lobbying
 The use of public Opinion tools
 Approaching the Judiciary

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Contributions of Interest Groups to Governance
 Policy formulation
 Articulation of public interests
 Championing the cause of the underprivileged
 Public education
 Checks abuse of governmental power
 Participation in Governance
 Intermediary role
 Provision of expert advice

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Problems of Interest Groups to Governance
 Unjustifiable demands
 Negative effects on productivity
 Break down of law and order
 Political confrontation
 Internal conflicts
 Ineffective leadership
 Financial problems

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QUIZ 2
Instructions
Group work: Submission Date & Time 09/07/2021 12:30 PM
Discuss the key factors that help to ensure the effective performance of
Interest groups in a state (Use Ghana as a case study to illustrate your
discussion).

4b Intro to Political Studies.ppt

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