Agree or disagree: “Those special interest groups in Washington
DC are too powerful, and are destroying America.”
Homework: Assignment 9 for tomorrow
Unit 3a: AP Government and
Politics



“Yes , ladies and gentlemen, we are the special interests.
All of us. You may not raise Angora goats; you may not
grow corn. But you are part of some group – probably
many of them – that has unique interests: a profession,
an ethnic group, a demographic group, a neighborhood,
an industry, a part of the country.
It is facile (effortless) to declare that politicians should
just do the right thing. The hoary old cliché about tough
decisions is true. Doing the right thing – making a
decision that generates more benefits for the nation than
costs – will not cause people to stand up and cheer.
It is far more likely that the many people you have made
better off will hardly notice while the small group you
have harmed will pelt your car with tomatoes.”
• Charles Wheelan, Naked Economics

First, the more divisions in society, the more variety
of interests that will exist.
• We have many different lines along which we divide
ourselves, and these make for a variety of interests and
opinions.
• It is inevitable; Madison said, “the latent causes of faction are
thus sown in the nature of man.”

Second, due to the separation of powers, plenty of
places exist to plead one’s cause.
• “Access points”
• And with more chances/places to influence policy, more
organizations will seek to exercise that influence.

Third, weakness of political parties
• Where parties are weak, interests operate directly on the
government; where they are strong, interests work within the
parties.
Theories of Interest Group
Formation

15.1
Pluralist Theory
 Political power distributed among groups; many groups who
vie for power; “hyperpluralism”

Disturbance Theory
 Groups form in response to change; as new laws emerge or
issue rise, groups form to address them

Transactions Theory
 Public policy results from transactions among political
players; the “elites”, who have lower “transaction cost”
because they have more time and money
Kinds of Interest Groups

15.1
Public Interest Groups
 Seek a collective good; don’t benefit directly from their
actions

Economic Interest Groups
 Promote the economic interests of their members
 Includes labor groups like the AFL-CIO

Ideological, Single-Issue Groups
 Members have common values, or value one issue

Governmental Units
 State and local governments lobby, too

**Political Action Committees
 Officially registered fundraising organizations that
represent interest groups
Most powerful*
http://listosaur.com/politics/10-powerful-specialinterest-groups-america/
 What
was “Madison’s Dilemma”, as outlined
in the Federalist 10?
• Why does Madison say that factions are detrimental
to the public good?
• Why is removing the causes of factions not possible,
according to Madison?
 **What are the liberties that give rise to factions?
• What “remedy” does Madison propose to cure the
effects of factions?
 Explain Madison’s argument with regard to this remedy.
• In your opinion, do factions (parties, interest groups)
have a positive or negative effect on our
democracy? Why or why not?
Membership?
• Internal differences?
Focus?
• Number of issues?
Goals?
• How do they achieve these?