Political Parties vs Interest Group: Difference and Comparison

Similar terms are often confused because they don’t know the difference between the terms. The same thing happened with the terms political parties and interest group people considered both the terms the same, and they thought there was no difference between these terms.

Key Takeaways

1. Political parties are organized groups that seek to control government policy by winning elections and holding public office.
2. Interest groups advocate for specific causes or policy changes without directly participating in electoral politics.
3. While both aim to influence public policy, political parties focus on broader issues, whereas interest groups concentrate on specific interests or policy areas.

Political Parties vs. Interest Group

Political parties seek to gain power through elections and govern by winning control of government institutions. Interest groups do not seek to gain power directly through elections, but rather they seek to influence political decision-making through campaigns and other forms of public engagement.

The political parties are the entity that acts as a mediator between the political sphere and the population. Parties can also mean that people of the country can know the matter on social issues and political terms and are informed about the votes.

It is a group that is extremely involved in persuading the government. They focus on one or two specific matters.

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Comparison Table Between Political Parties and Interest Group

Parameters of Comparison	Political Parties	Interest group
Meaning	Political parties are the entity that can act as a mediator between the political sphere and the population.	The interest group also mediates between the political sphere and the population.
Aim	A political party’s basic aim is to support the candidate from their party and make him win the election.	The interest group aims to influence the government and people’s decisions and take care of the specific matter.
Flexible	Political parties are flexible as they attract the crowd to win in the election.	Interest groups are inflexible, as they cannot attract many people in the country.
Size	The size of the political parties does not help the parties to win the candidate in the election.	The size of the interest group gives the advantage as they can influence the people’s decisions.
Deals to issue	Political parties concentrate on immigration, education, taxes, health care, etc.	Interest parties focus on political, economic, and political changes, the advantages and disadvantages of abortion, and the advantages and disadvantages of abortion.

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What are Political Parties?

These parties mainly focus on the social welfare of the people, equity of rights given to each citizen in the country, taxes fairly paid, maintaining good and healthy foreign relations, and each one has given health care and gun control.

 This party’s motive is to gain power by supporting its candidate in the parties so that they can make their own decision on different issues, because of which they are generally criticized for focusing the interest of politicians first before the needs of the citizen.

 

What is Interest Group?

An interest group is a group of people who share a similar opinion on matters that come together to affect public opinion.

 Interest groups include labor unions, social groups, student unions, corporations, and businesses. This group is involved in environmental matters, minimum wages, and gun control. T

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Main Differences Between Political Parties and Interest Groups

1. Individuals with common ideals, visions, and goals create political parties and interest groups.
2. Both political parties and interest groups focus on political, economic, and political change.

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References

1. https://read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/article-abstract/31/5/887/93480
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354068811422639