Chapter 10: Interest Groups

The existence of interest groups represents a fundamental dilemma for the American political system. Interest groups work to gain advantages for themselves at the expense of the larger population. Indeed, Madison warned that "factions" would go as far as to suppress the rights of others to achieve their objectives. Yet interest groups are a manifestation of liberty; curbing interest groups means curbing freedom.

Interest groups do play many positive roles. Among other things, they represent people before their government. Yet a troubling aspect of interest group politics has to do with the nature of this representation. Some segments of society (particularly the wealthy, the well educated, and businesses) are more likely to be represented by lobbying organizations than other constituencies are. This inequity is also manifested in the resources available to groups.

In recent years we have observed an upsurge in the numbers of interest groups. The most troubling aspect of that growth is the increasingly significant role political action committees, or PACs, play in financing congressional elections. The greatest portion of PAC contributions comes from corporate PACs. Critics charge that PACs gain undue advantage from the access they gain with contributions. They argue that PACs exacerbate the inequities in American society. Defenders respond that PACs are a way in which people can participate in politics. Moreover, shouldn't people have the freedom to join together with other like-minded Americans to promote the candidates they believe in?