ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, “interest group” was defined as any non-party organization that engages in political activity. Initially, I thought the best definition was any organization that engages in political activity. This definition, however, would have included political parties, which makes it problematic. Political parties are not interest groups. But they often work with interest groups, and they do lots of the same things (e.g., raise money for candidates) that interest groups do. Because of the similarities between political parties and interest groups, and because political parties sometimes work with interest groups, this chapter will say a few words about political parties and their relationships with interest groups. It will begin with a few words about political parties—what they are and what they do.
