Taking part
interest group
An organized group seeking to influence policy: a trade association, a union, an advocacy nonprofit, a professional society, a neighborhood association.
In full
Interest groups aggregate individual preferences into something officials can respond to, supply expertise that understaffed offices lack, and mobilize members. They also concentrate influence: concentrated interests with clear stakes usually organize more effectively than diffuse publics with small per-person stakes, which is a structural feature of the system rather than a scandal.
Also written as: advocacy group
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.