Transcript The Case for Interest Groups - University of San Diego Home Pages

The Case for Interest Groups
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
Man as a social animal
• Men must exist in society in order to
manifest those capacities and
accomplishments that distinguish them
from other animals
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common
and associate as groups
Categoric Groups
• Any collection of individuals who have
some characteristic in common
• Examples?
(True) Groups
• Must not just share a characteristic in
common, but must also interact
• Examples?
• Why must this be the case for the term
“group” to be meaningful?
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common
and associate as groups
• Group affiliations produce uniformities of
behavior and attitude
Groups
• Groups experiences and affiliations are
the primary, though not the exclusive,
means by which the individual knows,
interprets, and reacts to the society in
which he exists
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common
and associate as groups
• Group affiliations produce uniformities of
behavior and attitude
• (How?)
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common
and associate as groups
• Group affiliations produce uniformities of
behavior and attitude
• Groups can be highly stable, uniform,
formal, and general (an institution)
Groups in equilibrium
• Characterized by stable patterns of interactions
• Disturbances from the outside lead to:
• Temporary disruption, then reversion to previous
balance
• New behaviors
– Inappropriate behaviors
– Individuals joining other, different groups
– Formation of new groups
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common
and associate as groups
• Group affiliations produce uniformities of
behavior and attitude
• Groups can be highly stable, uniform,
formal, and general (an institution)
• Disturbances to group can lead new
groups or behaviors to form
“Interest Group”
• Any group that, on the basis of one or
more shared attitudes, makes certain
claims upon other groups in society for
the establishment, maintenance, or
enhancement of forms of behavior that are
implied by the shared attitudes.
Features of this definition
• Can identify both potential and existing
interest groups
– Some interests have become a point of
interaction among individuals, some not (yet)
• Organization is just a degree of interaction
• Organization can take place at any time
• Not restricted to politics/government
Premises of Truman’s Argument
• Man is an essentially social animal
• People have characteristics in common and associate as
groups
• Group affiliations produce uniformities of behavior and
attitude
• Groups can be highly stable, uniform, formal, and
general (an institution)
• Disturbances to group can lead new groups or behaviors
to form
• Sometimes this leads groups to form organizations
• Sometimes these organizations choose to try to affect
politics or government
What of the “special interests”?
(Pressure groups?)
• An irrelevant classification
• Any group is selfish or altruistic,
depending on perspective
Pluralism
• Groups can form freely
• Groups will form in response to societal
disturbances
• All groups’ interests will be represented
• No one group will dominate all the time
• Democracy is fair to all
Critiques?