Political Competition
The Role of Interest Groups
STRUCTURED PLURALISM
 Individuals
 with
interests that derive from their assets,
endowments, preferences
 with interests that derive from their offices and
the requirements of success in office
WHERE YOU STAND DEPENDS ON
WHERE YOU SIT
We must start with individuals
[when we talk about collectivities, like labor, or
property owners, or even homeowners, we are
being a little bit sloppy. We are implying that
these folks all have identical wants and interests
and are prepared to do something about it]
 Individuals
have multiple interests
 They may join with others to advance some
of those interests thru political action
{groups}
Competitive political analysis looks at
the costs and benefits of group action
and predicts likely outcomes
 Benefits
 payoff
of GROUP ACTION depend on
if successful
[markets determine the payoffs accruing to alternative
rules/policies]
 the
likelihood of success
[receptivity of institutions, opposition]
 Costs
of GROUP ACTION depend on
 the
costs of organization
[free rider problem]
 by-product theory of group organization
ORGANIZING IS EASIER WHEN
PAYOFFS ARE LARGE, GROUPS ARE
SMALL, AND FREE-RIDERS CAN BE
SANCTIONED
DAIRY FARMERS ARE MORE
INFLUENTIAL THAN RANCHERS
BECAUSE THEY ARE BETTER
ORGANIZED -- WHY ARE THEY
BETTER ORGANIZED?
INDIVIDUAL PAYOFFS ARE LARGE
NUMBERS ARE NOT SMALLER, BUT
DAIRIES TEND TO BE SPATIALLY
CONCENTRATED
FREE-RIDERS CAN BE
SANCTIONED
Nature of Political Competition