3/1/22
Interest Groups
Factions
● Faction, according to James Madison
○ A group of citizens, united by some common passion or interest, adverse to the
rights of other citizens,or to the interests of the community
○ Madison feared factions, and argued for a constitutional design that would limit
their influence
Interest groups
● Interest group: an organization of individuals who share a common political goal and
are united for the purpose of influencing government decisions
● Political action committee (PAC): the fundraising arm of an interest group
● Super PACs: special PACs which have no limitations on how much money they can
spend on a candidate’s behalf, but do not allow the group to coordinate with the
campaign.
Why Do People Join Groups?
● Collective action problem: the difficulty in getting people to work together to achieve a
common goal when the solution is costly to use resources to make it happen
● Collective good: a good or service that, by its very nature, cannot be denied to anyone
who wants to consume it
Free Rider Problem
● Free rider problem: although interest groups play an important role in securing and
protecting citizen access to collective goods ( public safety, clean air, national defense,
etc.) to their efforts in order to enjoy that good
○ Free rider problem can make it hard for interest groups to attract members
● As a result, they have created selective incentives for membership ( material,
solidary, and expressive)
● Selective incentives: benefits that are available only to group members as an
inducement to get them to join
○ Material benefits: selective incentives in the form of tangible benefits
○ Solidary benefits: related to the interaction and bonding among group members
Interest Groups
Factions
● Faction, according to James Madison
○ A group of citizens, united by some common passion or interest, adverse to the
rights of other citizens,or to the interests of the community
○ Madison feared factions, and argued for a constitutional design that would limit
their influence
Interest groups
● Interest group: an organization of individuals who share a common political goal and
are united for the purpose of influencing government decisions
● Political action committee (PAC): the fundraising arm of an interest group
● Super PACs: special PACs which have no limitations on how much money they can
spend on a candidate’s behalf, but do not allow the group to coordinate with the
campaign.
Why Do People Join Groups?
● Collective action problem: the difficulty in getting people to work together to achieve a
common goal when the solution is costly to use resources to make it happen
● Collective good: a good or service that, by its very nature, cannot be denied to anyone
who wants to consume it
Free Rider Problem
● Free rider problem: although interest groups play an important role in securing and
protecting citizen access to collective goods ( public safety, clean air, national defense,
etc.) to their efforts in order to enjoy that good
○ Free rider problem can make it hard for interest groups to attract members
● As a result, they have created selective incentives for membership ( material,
solidary, and expressive)
● Selective incentives: benefits that are available only to group members as an
inducement to get them to join
○ Material benefits: selective incentives in the form of tangible benefits
○ Solidary benefits: related to the interaction and bonding among group members
