Interest groups abound in the United States thanks to several
             factors. First and foremost, our own Federalist government, with many
             centers of power, in combination with the freedom secured by our
             Constitution, encourages the forming of interest groups. As constituents
             see wavering political parties, with blurred political lines, interest
             groups are created to ensure strong stands are taken on issues. And
             lastly, interest groups proliferate, in part, due to "the great number of
             social cleavages along income, occupational, religious, racial, and
             cultural lines." ("Interest Groups") With all of this activity, why is
             the Board of the Consumers' Association having difficulty attracting new
             It is understandable that the Board is feeling frustration in the
             apathy they perceive from Americans in general. Americans are blessed to
             live in a country that is comfortable for the average resident. Certainly
             there are challenges that need to still be addressed in the Land of the
             Free, however, in comparison to other countries still under tyrannical
             oppression, Americans have it pretty good. This comfort level brings about
             a level of apathy. Couple this with a natural human resistance to change,
             and it becomes clearer why more Americans aren't active in any interest
             group, let alone the Board's. To counter this, the Board needs to first
             determine whether they are a public or private interest group.
             A public interest group is one that concerns itself with issues that
             affect the nation as a whole. With this wide demographic to solicit, they
             have the benefit of soliciting support from every citizen of the United
             States. Their weakness however is that oftentimes their stand on public
             issues is on one extreme end of the spectrum, which the average American,
             although agreeing with the stand in general, cannot support the extremity
             to which they've gone. An example of thi
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