Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,5, University of Nottingham (Nottingham Trent University), 22 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In the United States of America (USA) which claims to be one of the most modern democracies, interest groups play an important role in its political culture. They represent diversity and have an important influence on policy making, which is enhanced through the relative weakness of the political parties. Instead of wide party ideologies, interest groups concentrate only on one special "interest". The federalist system encourages interest groups because it offers multiple access points. Citizens come together on specific interests on local levels and then later expand with the help of the media and the Internet onto national levels. Additionally, the strong and independent judiciary enhances the power of interest groups (see website 1). Freedom of speech and freedom of the press guarantee interest groups the right to publish their interests according to their means.