An interest group is a collection of individuals or teams that share the same interests but different from those of other groups as well as those of a larger community. Such interest groups try to cause impacts on the guideline, policy and management of administrative institutions at different levels, aiming at maximizing interests of their groups, regardless of legitimate interests of others or negative impacts on the general development of society. | Impacts of the Interest Groups in Vietnam at Present Luong Dinh Hai* Abstract: An interest group is a collection of individuals or teams that share the same interests but different from those of other groups as well as those of a larger community. Such interest groups try to cause impacts on the guideline, policy and management of administrative institutions at different levels, aiming at maximizing interests of their groups, regardless of legitimate interests of others or negative impacts on the general development of society. There are various types or forms of interest groups in society. Through economic, political, information and ideological modes, they cause impacts on policy - making and socio - economic development policy implementation. In Vietnam, the interest groups have been exerting negative impacts on social development. If those impacts are not constrained effectively and appropriately, the corollaries will be increasingly severer, resulting in social crises in the coming time. Key words: Interest group, group interest, policy impact, the State, market economy, Vietnam. 1. Recently, there have been many discussions about interest groups and group interests in various forums, as those groups have taken advantage of all possible conditions and tricks to get benefits, causing negative impacts on socio - economic life in Vietnam. Yet, neither the concept of interest group nor group interest has been understood unanimously. In fact, the interest group and the group interest are not of the same concept. Based on different expressions, we can realize the group interest is usually understood as the general and similar interest of a certain group of people in society. In the meanwhile, the interest group is understood as a group of people who have the same interest and want to effectuate jointly the interest. There are many types of group interests, indeed. The number and names of interest groups also vary, depending on the perspective of analysis and the .
