Záujmové skupiny v politike
Interest Groups in Politics

Summary/Abstract: Interest Groups in Politics. The paper is devoted to the analysis of the interest groups in political life of society. An interest or pressure group differs from a political party in seeking only to influence the government – not become part of it. First part of the paper deals with the interest intermediary process in the political system of society. The second part brings the explanation of position, meaning and functions of interest group in political system. The third part deals with the types of interest groups and the fourth one deal with tactics of interest groups. There are a great many interest groups in a modern state. One of the most frequently used classifications of interest groups points that all sorts of organisations may function as interest groups. Main types of interest groups are then anomic groups, nonassociational groups, institutional groups and associational groups. The tactics that interest groups will use are determined by the sources of its power and by the opportunities that the political system offers for the use of power. There are several tactics available to interest groups in democracy: control of information and expertise, electoral activity, use of economic power, public information campaign, violence and disruption, litigation etc. Two main patterns of interest groups activity in democratic political system are pluralism and neocorporatism. Nature of the corruption and the institution of patronage in the intermediary process are also analysed.

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