Mothers Against Drunk Driving

            Interest groups are a group of people who people who share common traits, attitudes, beliefs, and/or objectives who have formed a formal organization to serve specific common interests of the membership (Johnson, 1997). Interest groups which have political activity as their main reason for being organized is called political interest groups; while, for a narrower term, interest groups which exists mainly to affect government policies or legislation are now called pressure groups.

            With the turn of more and more activities being politicized more and more groups have become involved in politics that there is no longer a great distinction between interest groups and pressure groups or political interest groups (Johnson, 1997).  One good example is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). This group shares a common belief that, in turn, influences the actions (e.g., advocacy, public awareness programs, policy research) they use to achieve their goals (Pressure Groups, 2007).

            Political interest group is different from political parties. Political parties causes national or changes by being elected to public office while pressure groups create the change, not by being elected, but by influencing the elected political parties. Moreover political interest groups specialize on issues while political parties address a wider range of the different issues (Pressure Groups, 2007).  This is clearly demonstrated by MADD since its organization in 1980 up to the present.

MADD is an organization non-profit grass roots organization with now more than 400 entities nationwide (MADD, 2007).  It was founded with a mission to support the victims of drunk driving and to prevent underage drinking. As a nonprofit grass root organization, MADD depends on contributions from individuals, corporations and government funding. Many organizations and individuals provide support to MADD both in financial and in-kind contributions. The organization also gets additional funding from the members, events and sale of promotional materials (How is MADD, 2007). Seventy six percent of MADD’s funds are used on community programs and services, seven percent on management and operations and the remaining seventeen percent goes to fundraising (How is MADD, 2007). MADD affiliates rely on funding to organize services, programs, promotion of state and local initiatives, education and public awareness programs. 

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers was established in 1980 in California and was incorporated in September of the same year. California and Maryland chapters are the first two chapters created. October of the same year was a landmark even with its first national press conference held in Washington and attended by members of the Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 1982 MADD became a member of the then just declared Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving. The same year with the participation of MADD U.S. Transportation Code sec. 410 was passed into a law. This provides funds for state funding for anti-drunk driving. By the year 1983 MADD grew in chapters, popularity and power that by the end on that year 129 anti-drunk driving laws were passed. Several laws were passed with the effort of MADD. In 1984 the Federal 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law was signed by President Reagan on July 17. In 1988 the Omnibus Anti-Drug Act was signed and the Alcohol Labeling Act was also adopted. In 1991 the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was passed by the Congress which required alcohol and drug testing for transportation employees in sensitive safety jobs. In 1988 Zero Tolerance was passed in all states. By the year 2000 MADD had 2 million members and around 600 chapters. The same year Clinton signed the .08 BAC illegal drunk driving limit which by 2002 was adopted in 34 states and in 2003 in 45 states (MADD Milestones, 2007).

Works Cited

Johnson, Paul M.. 1997. A Glossary of Political Economy Terms. Department of Political Science Auburn University. Retrieved 2 September 2007 from

http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/interest_group

Pressure Groups. 2007. Encyclopedia of Public Health. Answers.com

Retrieved 2 September 2007 from

http://www.answers.com/topic/pressure-group?cat=health

Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 2007. Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Retrieved 2 September 2007 from

http://www.madd.org/aboutus/1094

How is MADD funded, and how is the money used? 2007. Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Retrieved 2 September 2007 from

http://www.madd.org/aboutus/1847

MADD Milestones: 1980-2005. 2007. Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Retrieved 2 September 2007 from

http://www.madd.org/aboutus/1179