Let's say you're driving to the capital Olympia for the first time and you see a group of people standing around chanting and holding signs that say "STOP ABORTIONS." Do you stop and ask your friend what she thinks is happening? You both think it's an anti-abortion protest, so you start walking around wondering what's going on. One of the group members tells you that he is part of an interest group fighting for life. Your friends start to wonder what an interest group is since pro-life is such a big issue for her, she wants to be a part of it too. According to Roskin, Cord, Medeiros and Jones (2010) an interest group is “an association that puts pressure on the government for the policies it favors”. But are interest groups useful or do they just cause more problems? In this essay I will explain the different types of interest groups that exist, how interest groups are created and who is in them, and how they are beneficial and non-beneficial to the people who support them. Interest groups have existed since the 1780s. Most of the issues focused on in that period were land ownership, debt and slavery (Interest Groups, 2003). “In 1791, interest group activities were formally recognized in the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protected the right of the people “to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (Interest Groups, 2003). “The term interest group covers virtually any collection of people seeking to influence government” (Roskin, el at, 2010). There are many types of interest groups and issues that are focused on. The types of interest groups may include farmers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and other members of the business community who have issues of interest to them in...... middle of the document ...... sizes are distributed so non-uniform (Saurugger, 2010).Interest groups are extremely important to society. Without people who are passionate about issues that affect many people, people would feel like they don't matter. Even though problem groups usually have two sides, an interest group versus an interest group with opposing opinions, people fight for what they think is right. Interest groups can bring change or bring violence into society depending on the issue at hand. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interest groups are able to help in an orderly manner, in most cases, and be able to express their opinion and possibly change that of others in the process. As time goes on I see interest groups becoming more powerful because of the big issues we face in our daily lives. Works Cited Introduction to Political Science