POS 2041 Lecture Notes - Nepalese Rupee, Grassroots Lobbying, Free Rider Problem
Document Summary
This chapter looks at the degree to which various interest in american society are represented through organized groups. Argument: economically powerful groups dominate the system, an issue deemphasized by pluralist claims. Begin with explanation of various types of interest groups. Interest groups have policy goals (to further their interests) Definition of interest group: a set of individuals organized to promote a shared political concern. Political parties are different from interest groups. Parties build coalitions by addressing wide range of issues, groups focus on narrow set of issues of immediate concern. Pluralism holds that society"s interests are represented mainly by groups. The rise of single-issue politics combined with decline of political parties has served to increase the power of interest groups. Group politics may result in the ascendancy of narrow interests which prove harmful to the larger society. In the 1830s alexis de tocqueville wrote that the principle of association was nowhere more evident than in america.
