POLS 1336 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Political Action Committee
18 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
Interest groups organization or association of people with common interests that engages in politics on behalf of its members. Americans are joiners > more than 3/4 belong to one group. On average, belong to two, make $ contributions to four. Elections do not adequately communicate what interest groups think we need to hear. Easy to form groups > protected by rst amendment. American government is open to the in uence of other groups which are publicly unaccountable. Pacs are means to get money into a campaign without directly giving it to the candidate. Impossible to know who is funding a pac. If interests are not represented, politics may be biased. When interest groups are formed, they must work hard to maintain themselves. Most interest groups are economic and have a survival advantage over non-economic groups. Millions do not join groups. (1% or less) Common interest may be a necessary condition for membership, but it is not su cient.
