What are interest groups and political parities? An interest group is a structured group that attempts to persuade the government to implement certain policies or measures. While a political party is defined as a well-considered group of people with at least nearly comparable political goals and opinions, which seeks to influence public action by getting its candidates elected to public office. According to Political Science: Introduction “interest groups are a bit like political parties. Both attempt to influence public policy, but the interest groups do so outside of the electoral process and are not accountable to the public.” Interest groups are an important mechanism by which citizens of the United States express their thoughts and desires. Interest groups make promises such as donating money and sending lobbyists to work in Washington. According to Political Science: Introduction, “lobbying receives the most attention. Campaign contributions and corporate favors for lawmakers convince many that lobbyists are buying Congress. Indeed, any major interest threatened by new laws spares no expense to ensure that the laws are not passed, and they usually succeed.” The goal of these groups is to defend the economic good of their clients or members. Interest groups also become actively involved in political campaigns. “Interest groups can influence the nomination of candidates who sympathize with their cause, but the candidates run under the party banner – not that of an interest group. Parties seek power through elections. Interest groups typically focus on specific programs and issues and are rarely represented in the formal structure of government. Instead, they attempt to influence legislators and leaders. They often seek favors from all political parties.” By seeking the favor of all political parties, they would have a greater impact within government and administration. According to Ronald Hrebenar, “Interest groups continue to challenge political parties as the dominant political organizations in American politics. The “era of new politics,” a term describing the decline of political parties and the rise of interest groups as articulators of political demands, continues almost unabated at both the national and state levels . Functions that political parties once performed, such as candidate selection, fundraising, and law-writing, are now being taken over by interest groups. Interest groups prove more flexible than parties in responding to the wide range of demands and policy tasks assigned to American political organization.” One of the negative effects of political parties is that they become too powerful and political parties can often seem to have a debilitating influence on the world.