Interest Groups, Advocacy and Public Policy

Interest groups are organisations that involve themselves in activities aimed to shape, develop and implement public policy. For some, groups are actors that undermine policy being developed and implemented in the public interest. Yet, for others, groups are viewed as important agents able to buttress the state's capacity to govern. This course examines the contemporary role of interest groups in the policy process against this fundamental debate in policy studies. Using a rang e of examples from Australia and beyond, the course probes the way groups form, how they sustain their organisations, the various ways in which they engage in public policy and their effectiveness. The course also considers other actors in the policy system, such as lobbyists and think tanks.