Define citizens' (or noneconomic) interest groups and identify the types of noneconomic interest groups and the constituencies they serve.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Citizens' (or noneconomic) groups are organized around purposive incentives, which are opportunities to support a cause in which a person believes. Nearly every conceivable issue or problem has its citizens' group, and so the constituencies served by citizens' groups are incredibly diverse. Some citizens' groups, like the NAACP or the National Organization for Women, work to advance the interests of a particular social grouping. Other citizens' groups are dedicated to the promotion of a political ideology, like the American Conservative Union (ACU) or Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). Most citizens' groups have an issue-specific policy agenda and are called single-issue groups. Single-issue groups are organized to influence policy in just one area; examples are the Sierra Club, the National Rifle Association, and the various right-to-life and pro-choice abortion-related groups. However, citizens' groups are very difficult to classify because they differ so widely in focus and goals and can have overlapping traits. A single-issue group might be highly ideological or highly pragmatic.