Political Parties and Interest Groups
Introduction
There are numerous political "vehicles" used to connect constituents (citizens) with their political institutions. There are two ways in which people make their presence felt in government:
- Different political parties; and
- Interest groups.
1. Political Parties
Political Parties in the United States bring like-minded individuals together, for the purpose of electing a candidate to office. While political parties may differ in ideology, their primary goal is the control of political institutions while pursuing an ideological direction.
The two major political parties in the US are the Republican and Democrat parties.
Republicans are normally considered conservative…
(Click on the elephant to go to the Republican Party of Florida website.)
. . . while Democrats pursue more liberal ideologies.
(Click on the donkey to go to the Democratic Party of Florida website.)
Additionally, Florida has several minor Third Parties
Democrats still outnumber Republicans in the State of Florida.
However, the Republican party has had significant growth in the state since 1972. (Source: Florida Department of State)
Party concentration in Florida differs geographically.
2. Interest Groups
"I don't think people appreciate how difficult it is to be a pawn of an interest group." (Actual quote from Florida House debate, taken from the House Journal, as cited in Dye: Politics in Florida)
An interest group is defined as an organized body of individuals with shared goals and a desire to influence government.
When we think of interest groups, we tend to think of well-funded corporations. However, there are interest groups that represent almost every aspect of the State of Florida from attorneys, to teachers, to college students.
(Source: Bowman and Kearney; State and Local Government)
Interest groups in Florida, more so than in most states, are able to influence the political process.
In a comparative analysis of state politics conducted by Clive Thomas and Ronald Hregenar, Florida was one of the seven top states where interest groups dominated politics.
Florida's interest groups can make their presence felt by making large financial contributions to political campaigns. Large financial contributors can be divided into several categories(Campaign Finance Data Base):
- Healthcare companies such as Humana and Florida Health Care.
- Banks such as Suntrust and Bank of America.
- Unions such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
- Insurance companies such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Aetna.
- Utilities such as AT&T and Sprint.
- Tourism industries such as Disney and Carnival Corp.
- Law firms such as Holland and Knight.
How much money is involved in campaigning for a state-wide office? For an answer to this question, visit the Campaign Finance Page of the Florida Department of State website, specifically the page regarding Public Campaign Financing.A tool of interest groups are lobbyists. Lobbyists are individuals and groups who try to influence law makers and policy makers. You can see lists of registered lobbyists by clicking on:
List of Registered Legislative Lobbyist 2009 or
List of Registered Executive Lobbyists 2009.
Some of the lobbyists are on both lists because they lobby both the legislative and executive branches of Florida government.
Additionally, Florida has what many refer to as a "Superlobby,” that are large organizations that combine into one organization for the purpose of lobbying Florida legislators.
Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), whose members include BellSouth, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Lykes, U.S. Sugar, Eckerd Drugs and others, seeks to protect the many business interests in the State of Florida. (Dye: Politics in Florida)
Organizations like these will normally rank legislators as having their interests in mind when voting or not.
Click on the AIF logo to visit the Associated Industries of Florida website.
