Interest group

An organized group that seeks to influence public policy without primarily contesting elections to govern. It represents shared concerns through activities such as lobbying, public campaigning, and litigation.

Lobbying: Communication with public officials intended to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions. Direct contact with officials is a central way interest groups seek policy change.
Public policy: The decisions and actions governments take to address public issues. Influencing public policy is the defining aim of an interest group.
Social movement: A sustained, loosely organized collective effort to promote or resist social or political change. Movements often mobilize broad publics, while interest groups typically maintain formal organizations and advocacy channels.
Pluralism (political theory): A theory that political power is dispersed among competing groups rather than held by a single elite. Pluralists view competition among interest groups as a route for representing diverse concerns.
Political action committee: An organization that raises and spends money to influence elections, subject to applicable campaign-finance rules. Some groups use affiliated committees to support candidates while remaining distinct from parties.
Collective action: Coordinated activity by multiple people pursuing a shared objective. Interest groups organize collective action around common policy concerns.
Trade union: An organization of workers formed to represent members in negotiations over employment conditions. Trade unions are a prominent interest-group type focused on labor and workplace policy.
Elite theory: An account of politics in which a relatively small, powerful group dominates major decisions. It challenges the claim that group competition gives interests broadly equal access to influence.
Grassroots lobbying: An effort to influence policy by mobilizing members or the public to contact government officials. It converts a group's membership and supporters into visible constituent pressure.
Political participation: Activities through which people seek to influence government or political outcomes. Group advocacy is one organized form of participation beyond voting.

Linked from 17 pages