Group Formation
Interest Groups
• Definition: groups that have organized to
promote a political agenda.
• Do you think the system fair to all groups,
or do some groups have a
disproportionate say over public policy?
Groups: a theoretical
perspective
• Should people participate in a group
whose existence benefits them? Will they?
• Analogy of firms in a competitive industry
• Analogy of the nation-state
What makes it easier to form a
group?
• Size
• Homogeneity
• Cost
• Benefits
How do large groups form?
Selective incentives
• A selective incentive (either negative or
positive) applies selectively to individuals
depending on whether or not they
contribute to the provision of the collective
good.
Types of selective incentives
• Material
• Solidary (social)
• Expressive
Effects of selective incentives?
• Power of the AARP and the NRA
• Strong parties and voter turnout in the 19th
century
What kinds of interest groups will
be more likely to form?
How do these incentives affect
the fairness and
representativeness of the political
system?
Pluralism
• Groups can form freely
• Any potential group can form if its interests
are at stake
• All groups’ interests will be represented
• No one group will dominate all the time
If the free rider problem makes it more
difficult for some groups to form and easier
for other groups to form, does that affect
whether the system will produce results
that are fair to all?