8.7: Interest Groups and Democracy

The Founders were wary of the power of organized groups in a democratic political system. In Federalist No. 10, James Madison cautioned against “the mischiefs of faction.” By faction, Madison meant a group of people with shared interests distinct from those of the whole society. If a faction were to prevail, policies would be made for its benefit rather than for the benefit of all. Happily, Madison argued, the Constitution was well-designed to prevent these mischiefs. Minority factions would naturally lose out in a democracy thanks to majority rule, and majority factions (if any managed to form in such a large and diverse country) would be thwarted by safeguards such as the separation of powers and checks and balances.

Madison’s view of factions reflects a faith in pluralism. Pluralists argue that democracy is ultimately a competition among interest groups to determine government policy. Rather than leave each individual citizen to attempt to influence politics, interest groups act as intermediaries between citizens and government, giving voice to their needs and wants in a way they would struggle to do for themselves. In theory, larger groups or coalitions of groups should win out in the long run due to the majoritarian nature of democracy.

Interest groups encourage members to contribute to their efforts by offering selective incentives, such as this roadmap published in 1918 by AAA.

In Interest groups encourage members to contribute to their efforts by offering selective incentives, such as this roadmap published in 1918 by AAA. reality, America’s political system doesn’t always deliver majoritarian outcomes. The richer someone is, the more money he or she can donate to interest groups. The more money an interest group has, the more influence it can wield. Furthermore, minorities that strongly support policies have an edge over majorities that weakly oppose them. For example, many policies in the United States provide subsidies to certain industries using taxpayer dollars. These subsidies raise the prices of goods like gasoline and breakfast cereal, but not by enough for most of us to notice or care about the additional cost. By contrast, the recipients of these subsidies benefit massively from them and are therefore highly motivated to preserve them.

Under certain conditions, an interest group can informally unite with a congressional committee and a bureaucratic agency to form an iron triangle (as diagrammed in Figure 8.3 below). Iron triangles coalesce around a policy status quo that benefits each corner. The interest group provides electoral support to members of the congressional committee in return for favorable legislative activity related to their interests. The interest group also lobbies Congress on behalf of the bureaucratic agency’s interests in exchange for the agency imposing (or not imposing) certain regulations on them. The congressional committee directs support (monetary or otherwise) to the bureaucratic agency in exchange for the agency implementing its legislation in particular ways. A sufficiently powerful iron triangle can maintain policies indefinitely without majority public support or even widespread public knowledge.

Figure 8.3: Relationships in an iron triangle

The nonmajoritarian aspects of interest group politics are one reason why March for Our Lives fell short of its goals despite majority support for them. The families and friends of the Parkland victims may never fully recover from that tragedy, but for most Americans it was just another Wednesday, and their lives would have been much the same had the shooting never happened. Millions are sympathetic to the cause of stricter gun control, but motivating them to act on an issue unlikely to affect them personally is incredibly difficult. The National Rifle Association, one of the leading gun-rights organizations in the United States, occupies a minority position in the gun control debate, but it represents gun owners who are personally invested in the issue of gun control and willing to pay to contribute to defend their interests. The NRA’s many selective incentives for members provide additional reasons for them to contribute to the group’s efforts.