What you need to know about Interest groups

An interest group (also called an advocacy group, lobbying group, pressure group, or special interest) is a group, however loosely or tightly organized, that is determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. It is usually difined as an organization of people that share ideas and attitudes and attempt to influence public policy.


Types of Human Organizations

Traditional
Families
Clans
Tribes
Nations
Formal Organizations
Voluntary Associations
Bureaucratic Organizations

Types of Organized Interest Groups
Economic Groups Farm Groups National Farm Bureau Federation
National Grange
National Farmers Union
National Cattlemen's Association

Business Groups National Chamber of Commerce
National Federation of Independent Business
National Association of Manufacturers
Business Roundtable
Committee on Economic Development
American Petroleum Institute

Labor Groups American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
United Automobile Workers Union (UAW)
American Federation of State and Municipal Employees (AFSME)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
National Education Association (NEA)
Teamsters Union

Professional Associations American Medical Association
American Bar Association
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
National Association of Realtors


Non-Economic Groups Religious Groups
Ethnic and National Origin
Veterans
Women
Environmentalists
Fraternal
Single Issue Interest Groups National Rifle Association
National Right to Life Committee


Fortune Magazine "Power 25 Survey for 2001"
The Top 25 Interest Groups

1. National Rifle Association
2. American Association of Retired People (AARP)
3. National Federation of Independent Business
4. American Israel Foreign Affairs Committee
5. Association of Trial Lawyers of America
6. AFL-CIO
7. Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America
8. National Beer Wholesalers of America
9. National Association of Realtors
10. National Association of Manufacturers
11. National Association of Homebuilders of the United States
12. American Medical Association
13. American Hospital Association
14. National Education Association of the United States
15. American Farm Bureau Federation
16. Motion Picture Association of America
17. National Association of Broadcasters
18. National Right to Life Committee
19. Health Insurance Association of America
20. National Restaurant Association
21. National Governors' Association
22. Recording Industry Association of America
23. American Bankers Association
24. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
25. International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Sites used-

http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/interest_groups1.htm

http://www.twyman-whitney.com/americancitizen/links/lobbies.htm