Assignment Instructions. Choose to answer any one of the options listed below. All web assignments are to be 5-6 total pages (1000-1200 words) in length; this includes a title page with your name, date, and assignment title as well as a bibliography page. You should use at least three references, one of which can be the text. The text should be double-spaced, have normal font and normal margins (1 inch margins, 12 pt font). All sources must be properly cited in the text using APA or MLA style formatting with a bibliography at the end of the document. Twenty (20) points will be deducted from your assignment if it does not meet any of these criteria. Late papers will not be accepted without an institutional excuse.

1. Interest Groups (Chapter 11). Choose any three currently active interest groups in American politics and describe the resources that they have, as outlined in the textbook. Investigate how these resources influence the ability of these interest groups to acquire what they want from the system. Provide specific evidence for your claims using the course text as well as reputable sources. Also, respond to the argument that interest groups do a better job of achieving their goals than do political parties. Finally, given your investigation of the previous questions, explain which interest group represents you the best. Is it a group that works on a specific issue, like gun control or taxes? Or one representing a specific "identity" group, like women or Latinos or LGBT people? Or is it a group organized around a partisan or ideological perspective?