HIST 120 Lecture 10: Special Interest Groups
14 Oct 2016
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● Special Interest Groups -
○ Interest groups: Organizations of people with shared goals
who try to turn their goals into policies, laws, or regulations. They
are part of the democratic process, but A RE NOT like political
parties in that they do not field candidates(although they may
choose to influence elections) and they are “policyspecialists”(they
have area-specific goals). The amount and types of interest groups
have greatly increased over the last 50 years. Through the 1950’s,
interest groups were mainly economic, but now all interests are
represented. They have a profound influence on American
government, and are arguably good for democracy because they
generally bridge the gap between politicians and lawmakers, they
can provide lawmakers with details and specialized information that
are not easily obtained, and they bolster the “checks and balances
system” by making politicians accountable to the desires of
organized citizens.
○ Theories of Interest Group Politics: Three of them!
▪ Pluralist Theory = Politics is a competition among competing
groups with particular policy preferences. Rebuttals to this
are that real power is held by the relatively few, the largest
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corporations hold the most power, elite power is fortified by a
system of interlocking directorates of these corporations and
other institutions, and other groups may win many minor policy
battles, but elites prevail when it comes to big policy decisions.
▪ Elite Theory = Societies are divided along class lines and an
upper-class elite rules.
▪ Hyperpluralist Theory = Groups are so strong that the government
is weakened. This is an extreme, exaggerated form of
pluralism.
● Sub-governments - Networks of groups that exercise a great deal
of control over specific policy areas. Consists of interest groups,
government agencies, and congressional committees that handle
particular policies. Also known as i ron triangles - see Figures 1 and 2
● The hyperpluralist critique - Groups have become too powerful as
the government tries to appease every interest. Many
sub-governments(iron triangles) aggravate the process. Trying to please
every group results in contradictory policies.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Interest groups: organizations of people with shared goals who try to turn their goals into policies, laws, or regulations. They are part of the democratic process, but a re not like political parties in that they do not field candidates(although they may choose to influence elections) and they are policy specialists (they have area specific goals). The amount and types of interest groups have greatly increased over the last 50 years. Through the 1950"s, interest groups were mainly economic, but now all interests are represented. Theories of interest group politics: three of them! Pluralist theory = politics is a competition among competing groups with particular policy preferences. Elite theory = societies are divided along class lines and an upper class elite rules. Hyperpluralist theory = groups are so strong that the government is weakened. This is an extreme, exaggerated form of pluralism. Sub governments networks of groups that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy areas.
