Pressure Groups in Latin America: A Focus on Chile’s Political Scene

Abstract

Skillful pressure on government by organized groups is one of the distinct phenomena of modern time.  Some of these groups are altruistic and are sincerely committed to social reforms; others exist frankly for the promotion of the economic well-being of their members.  At least a few organizations with high sounding names represent nothing more than the efforts one or a few persons to influence the conduct of public affairs; others with large staff of public relations experts, legislative counsel, and lobbyists represent the attempt of thousands of persons to bring pressure to bear on government officials at national, state and local levels.  The focus of this article is on “pressure Groups in Latin America: A focus on Chile’s Political Scene. Qualitative approach was adopted as method of data collection and analysis. The research finding agree with the fact that pressure groups with skillful lobbying capability can influence government to carry out social reforms or programs geared toward the promotion of economic well-being of their members.