Gov Chapter 10

Interest Group

An organization of people with a shared policy goal or goals who enter the policy process at one or more points, in one or more policy arenas, to try to achieve their goals.

Iron triangles

Also known as subgovernments, iron triangles consist of interest groups, government agencies, and congressional committees or subcommittees that have a mutually dependent, mutually advantageous relationship; they dominate some areas of domestic policymaking.

Potential Group

All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest.

Actual Group

The people in the potential group who actually join

Collective Good

Something of value, such a clean air, that cannot be withheld from anyone

Free Ride Problem

For an interest group, the fact that some or many potential group members will not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without joining.

Selective Benefits

Goods that a group can restrict to those who actually join

Single-Interest Group

A group that has a narrow interest, dislikes compromise, and single-mindedly pursues its goal.

Lobbying

The process by which an individual or group communicates with policymakers in an attempt to influence policy decisions.

Electioneering

Direct group involvement in the electoral process; for example, helping to fund campaigns, getting members to work for candidates, and forming political action committees.

Union Shop

A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring that all employees of a unionized business join the union within a short period of being hired, usually 30 days, and remain members as a condition of employment.

Right-to-work laws

State laws that forbid the creation of union shops. These laws were specifically authorized by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

Public Interest Lobbies

Organizations that seek a collective good, which benefits the society as a whole.