Final answer:
Interest groups contribute to the American public in various ways but also have the disadvantage of increasing political polarization by aggressively promoting specific viewpoints and potentially fracturing societal consensus.
Step-by-step explanation:
Interest groups do not help benefit the American public in the way that they can help to increase political polarization. While these groups provide representation, facilitate political participation, and play a role in educating the public, they can also contribute to divisiveness. This disadvantage occurs when interest groups become so focused on their specific agendas that they contribute to heightened tensions between differing viewpoints. Interest groups are designed to influence public policy and act as a medium for people to communicate their interests to the government.
However, in doing so, they can amplify political polarization by promoting a particular stance aggressively, sometimes to the point of excluding or discrediting alternative perspectives. This can lead to a more fractured society, where compromise and understanding between different political sides are undercut.