One reason why interest groups form and grow strong is the relative
            
 weakness of American political parties. This weakness is due, in turn, to
            
 the separation of the three branches of government. Every legislator must
            
 summon a winning coalition in his or her own state or district and the
            
 coalition is not the same as the majority coalitions of successful
            
 assemblies. Splintered party loyalties thus enhance the influence of
            
 interest groups (Hays) - during election when financial support becomes
            
 critical and after election when the winning candidate gets closely
            
       Another reason is the decentralization of political power to states
            
 and localities, called federalism or federal system. This conduces to the
            
 growth of interest groups, which begins from the state or local level and
            
 which, as a consequence of the social and economic diversity, further
            
 weakens the party system. Furthermore, the independence of the judiciary
            
 encourages the expansion and strength of interest groups on issues not
            
 under the control of legislature or bureaucracy (Hays). These groups can,
            
 thus, use this clout to achieve policy objectives through the judiciary if
            
 they cannot do so by legislative action.
            
       And a third reason is public airing of an unlimited range of views
            
 and the freedom of the press and assembly. The various media have also been
            
 decentralized and this has made it more difficult to pay real attention to
            
 these groups. Only the internet has made access to these views easier. But
            
 these traditional realities, in general, provide the momentum and venue for
            
 the formation and power of such groups.
            
       The three major types of interest groups are business, labor and
            
 agriculture. Agricultural interest groups have waned because of the decline
            
 in the number of farmers in the USA (Hays). Major corporations are also
            
 major players in the economy, for which elected officials are held
            
 accountable. This w...