POL214Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Canadian Alliance, Elections Canada, New Social Movements
Document Summary
Influencing the influencers: interest groups, lobbying and social movement. Interest groups: organizations that pursue the common interests of groups of people, particularly by trying to influence the making and implementation of public policies. Neo-pluralism: modification of pluralist theory that views business interests as having a privileged position in influencing government policymaking. Rational choice theory: a theory based on the assumption that individuals rationally pursue their own self-interest. State centered theory: state largely independent of social forces and thus state actors are relatively free to act on their own values and interests. Interest groups that are primarily concerned with selective benefits that are directed toward their members: benefits that are directed towards their members. Public interest groups: pursue goals that can be viewed as being for the public good and do not benefit members of a group exclusively, benefits to society as a whole, not just members. Free rider: individual that enjoys benefits of group actions without contributing.
