Interest Groups

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• Lecture 8
• Interest Groups

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Why do they form?

• A basic assumption of earlier group theory
• Pluralism Power is fractured, spread over many
  groups. Countervailing powers balance each
  other. New groups can form, communicate their
  preferences, and influence outcomes.
• Changes in the social structure are an incentive
  to mobilize
• Mobilization is matched by counter-mobilization
• Interest group community reflects the
  distribution of interests in society
• Balanced competition exists

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Wait a minute . . .

• Collective action involves costs as well as
  benefits.
• The logic of collective action Individuals do
  not naturally join organizations, preferring
  instead to allow others to take on the costs of
  organization. Only selective incentives motivate
  individuals to join and allow organizations to
  mobilize.
• Two Types of Benefits
• Collective non-excludable, non-divisible,
  non-consumable
• The free-loading free-rider
• Why should I take on the costs of organizing when
  others will do this for me?
• What difference would my small contribution make
  to the outcome?

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• Barriers to mobilization create a bias in the
  types of groups that do mobilize. So who does?
• Groups with a small number of potential
  beneficiaries
• Groups with a large stake in the outcome
• Groups size and stakes involved are often
  inversely related
• Result a group with a widely shared diffuse
  collective interest will probably be poorly
  represented

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• 2) Selective only available to those who
  participate in obtaining the collective good
• Extensions to the theory of collective action
  beyond economic (or material)
• selective benefits
• Purposive psychological and or/ideological
• Solidary - social

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• Extensions (continued)
• Entrepreneurs and
• Exchange Theory
• Patrons
• Byproduct Theory
• Why incentives (material,
• solidary, or purposive) may not be important
• Organizations form as a byproduct of occupational
  Interests
• Institutions

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The External Influences on Group
FormationInterest Group Proliferation from the
1960s through the 1990s

• The Interest Group Explosion
• Number
• Type
• Range of influence techniques
• Political Action Committees drew attention
• Number of registered lobbyists
• Trade associations with Washington offices

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The External Influences on Group
FormationInterest Group Proliferation from the
1960s through the 1990sWhy?

• Business Interests
• Union Membership
• Public Interest Groups
• The Intergovernmental Lobby
• Foreign Interests
• PACs

• Reasons not specific to sector/type
• Technological Advances
• Growth of Government

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• The Positive Benefits of Interest Groups
• Increase the diversity and intensity of demands
  on members of Congress
• A Route for Representation
• Contribute to the Social Fabric of Society
• The Negative Influence of Interest Groups
• Push People in Government Away from Decisions in
  the Public Interest
• Biased toward Economic Interests

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