Interest Groups and Policy Making
‘The involvement of civil society and interests in policy – making is a constructive way to involve representative groups in the policy process and is conducive to economic growth’ Discuss whether you agree with this statement, with reference to Olson’s critique of interest groups.
Introduction
The aim of this assignment is to look at the effect civil society and interest groups have on policy making and how in turn these are either conducive or not to the economy. Olson’s critique of interest groups will also be examined.
What are interest groups?
Interest groups are non profit, non violent associations of individuals or other organisations that are independent of governments that aggregate interests and inject them into the policy process. All interest groups must contend with the ‘logic of collective action’ (Olson, 1965). This means they must overcome the ‘free rider’ problem, that the people are able to enjoy the benefits of the collective action (a policy) without incurring a cost on the person. (Wallace et al, 2010). There are two different models of interest group activities; corporatism and pluralism. The corporatist model suggests that interest groups are closely associated with the political process and play an important role in the formulation and implementation of major political decisions, here we can see that large interest groups can monopolise the representation of their own interests. The pluralist model in contrast maintains that individual interest groups can apply pressure on political members in a competitive manner and attributes power in policy making to individual groups in particular areas at particular times (Murphy, 2010).
David Truman (1951) began the dialogue over group theory with the assertion that interest groups arise more or less in response to feelings of common interest among people who are experiencing some form of deprivation or frustration. Economic or political changes disturb the lives of potential group members,
Introduction
The aim of this assignment is to look at the effect civil society and interest groups have on policy making and how in turn these are either conducive or not to the economy. Olson’s critique of interest groups will also be examined.
What are interest groups?
Interest groups are non profit, non violent associations of individuals or other organisations that are independent of governments that aggregate interests and inject them into the policy process. All interest groups must contend with the ‘logic of collective action’ (Olson, 1965). This means they must overcome the ‘free rider’ problem, that the people are able to enjoy the benefits of the collective action (a policy) without incurring a cost on the person. (Wallace et al, 2010). There are two different models of interest group activities; corporatism and pluralism. The corporatist model suggests that interest groups are closely associated with the political process and play an important role in the formulation and implementation of major political decisions, here we can see that large interest groups can monopolise the representation of their own interests. The pluralist model in contrast maintains that individual interest groups can apply pressure on political members in a competitive manner and attributes power in policy making to individual groups in particular areas at particular times (Murphy, 2010).
David Truman (1951) began the dialogue over group theory with the assertion that interest groups arise more or less in response to feelings of common interest among people who are experiencing some form of deprivation or frustration. Economic or political changes disturb the lives of potential group members,