If you are following the US route, interest groups feature in sections 5.3 of the Edexcel specification and 3.2.1.7 of the AQA specification. The best students will demonstrate an ability to think and write synoptically in response to questions on the significance and impact of interest groups on politics in America.
In 1974 the British prime minister, Ted Heath, went to the polls with the slogan ‘Who rules?’, following a prolonged spate of industrial action in the UK. Although the electorate’s answer was ‘not you’, and Heath lost that election, it raises an interesting question for US politics. Do special interest groups rule US politics? A quote from Republican ex-Wisconsin governor Scott Walker would suggest so. He stated: ‘Who is in charge? Is it taxpayers or is it the special interest groups?’
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