Topic > Influence of Interest Groups on the Problem of Global Warming

Global warming has been an issue that has been debated intermittently many times. Some people believe it is a man-made problem, while others believe there is not enough evidence to support it. It's an issue that isn't always discussed consistently, but instead ebbs and flows as events transpire and the national mood changes. Global warming is not considered a major government agenda item in the United States due to the amount of skepticism associated with it and the nature of the political mainstream. The issue of global warming is somewhat based on political party. Furthermore, industries in the United States that contribute heavily to pollution have powerful interest groups working to their advantage to keep their best interests at hand. The events needed to focus on solving the problem are not always consistent. This leads to inconsistent and unpredictable policy windows. All of these things combine to create a controversial topic for which much legislation is difficult to pass and is not ranked high on the agenda. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the reasons why global warming is not considered an agenda item is because the issue has been limited to observation particularly based on one's political party affiliation. Events within government between political parties hinder progress made in passing legislation when one party sticks to having one point of view and the other does the same. Many in the Republican Party seem to agree that the science showing that global warming is a man-made issue is "not settled." Meanwhile, Democrats like Barack Obama have championed the issue of global warming. The president's political interests are difficult to achieve if the two political parties are divided on their views. The level of skepticism associated with the topic of global warming among political parties and their supporters makes it difficult for the issue to get onto the agenda. According to Kingdon “the construction of consensus by the political current is governed by bargaining”. If Democrats have nothing to bargain with Republicans, then the Republican point of view remains firm and global warming policies remain difficult to implement. Therefore, Barack Obama focused on economy-friendly jobs since it was something that could be passed, instead of directly addressing global warming. Another reason why global warming is not ranked among the top agenda items in the United States is because of the impact of interest groups. America has a very powerful fossil fuel industry. Interest groups within the fossil fuel industry do not want to see any type of reform or legislation passed to help curb global warming. This would drastically affect their profits and business. Any legislation that negatively affects these industries could result in fewer jobs. Interest groups put pressure on government actors and use their connections in government to influence the issue in their favor. They do everything in their power to prevent changes from happening and they are very effective at what they do. When powerful interest groups are at work, politicians typically do not “raise an issue at all ratherthan to see their energy and capital wasted on a lost cause.” The impact that interest groups have and their connections within government make them a very powerful force in influencing policies one way or another. It is much easier for politicians to forget an issue because of the large impact interest groups have. The national mood is the way in which public opinion and the mass population perceive an idea of ​​government or the government itself. The national mood allows government actors to get a sense of which issues and policies have the capacity to make it onto the decision agenda and which do not. The national mood can change, and people within the government have the ability to gauge the national mood based on certain factors. Based on feedback from large meetings, received mail, or even social media, government actors can sense how the national mood is changing and in which direction it is leaning. The change in the national mood allows some policies to move forward and rise in prominence and serves to “prevent others from rising to prominence.” When the public has a certain opinion on an issue, politicians do not try to pass legislation that goes against the national mood, as this would cause a decline in supporters. Politicians try to “jump on the bandwagon” in their own self-interest. They want to be re-elected, so they always act based on the feelings of the general public. In the case of global warming, any policy that affects a particular sector can bring negative consequences to the economy. Job creation was already “a more pressing issue than the environment,” which shows why global warming is not high on the agenda. Compared to other points, the other points receive more attention and are considered more important issues that need to be resolved. Focusing events are events that occur that cause an issue to rise to the agenda and may cause a policy window to open. A policy window is a time interval in which people from all three streams converge and interact with each other. Depending on how their interaction proceeds, legislation may or may not pass. Whenever political windows arise, “they remain open only for short periods.” However, the focused events are not always consistent and are quite unpredictable when it comes to global warming. Focused events include things like hurricanes and periods of drought or excessive precipitation. These focused events typically cause a change in the national mood that promotes legislation on a specific issue. They have the ability to raise awareness of an issue that may not have previously been known to everyone. These unpredictable focused events then lead to policy windows that are also unpredictable. When Hurricane Sandy hit, the national mood changed for a while as the issue of global warming contributing to stronger storms was raised. However, as time passed, the issue did not remain a burning issue, as interest in this topic waned and as a result global warming seemingly disappeared from the agenda. The window of opportunity to pass legislation was relatively small, and as with the occurrence of focused events, global warming did not remain on the agenda for very long. Another example of when an issue disappeared from attention is when the Al Gore movie came out. At the time, public attention was focused on the effects of global warming. As time went on, however, it was proven that "the number of.