Interest groups are part and parcel of a functioning democracy. Discuss.

a) Democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people.

b) It is of two types direct and representative.

c) In direct democracy all the citizens can participate in making public decisions and do not need an elected or appointed official.

d) However in representative democracy the citizens elect the representative who formulate law and take decisions on their behalf and for them.

e) India is a representative democracy.

f) The interest groups are the private organisations which are formed to influence the public policy, they are non-political in nature and their aim is to uphold their own interest.

g) In a democratic system the political parties represent the interest of different groups. These different interest groups work towards influencing political parties.

h) When interest groups feel that their interests are not been considered by the ruling political party they move to form the alternative party or build pressure on the ruling political parties.

i) Interest groups are organised to pursue specific interest in political arena, they operate by influencing the members of Legislative bodies.

j) In some situations the interest groups may be political organisations also but such organisation which are denied from the opportunity of achieving power and they are regarded as movements until they achieve recognition as political party.

Therefore we can say interest groups are part and parcel of a functioning democracy