NRA’s Affiliations with Politics

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NRA’s Affiliations with Politics

Special interest groups have dominated government since the beginning of America's political system. Special interest groups or lobbies are collections of individuals who join together to engage in common interests and to influence the decisions on public policies. Many people view special interest groups as an essential part of the political process. By this means, special interest groups can be good. The point that displeases many people about organized interests is that more often than not money overpowers the right decision; that is why some interest organizations can be a problem. The richer the organizations, the better chance they have to persuade the government officials and the average citizen.
A great example of an affluent organization with the purpose of exerting influence over the government and citizens is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA is more of a single-issue interest group that uses business dominance theories of representation. This organization tries its best to demise any political act against the Second Amendment, the right to bare arms. Members of the NRA consist mostly of Republicans; therefore, this interest group has a political party gender dominating the majority of its members. “But the NRA and its Republican allies in the House passed a much more lenient gun control measure than the Senate did. The NRA spent some $3 million to prevent the Senate bill from being enacted by the House…” [1] The NRA exploits many different approaches of exerting influence over the political process. They use clear-cut methods such as inside and outside lobbying, direct and indirect lobbying, and grassroots lobbying. These strategies that have been employed by the NRA have acutely influenced the political process.
Direct Lobbying of the NRA
Direct formal lobbying, being face-to-face with public officials, is used widely by the NRA. A great example of thi...