This chapter discusses interest articulation and interest groups. It defines interest articulation as the process of expressing interests, needs, and demands by people and social groups. As societies become more complex, the number and methods of interest articulation have grown. There are four main types of interest groups: anomic, nonassociational, institutional, and associational. The chapter also describes three systems of interest group relations with government: pluralist, democratic corporatist, and controlled. It outlines legitimate and coercive channels that interest groups use to access policymakers and influence policy.

1. Chapter Four
Interest Articulation

2. Learning Objectives
• 4.1 Define interest articulation, and provide some examples of
interest articulation in different societies.
• 4.2 Explain three ways in which individuals can participate in the
political system.
• 4.3 List four types of interest groups and give examples.
• 4.4 Describe the characteristics and benefits of a civil society.
• 4.5 Identify and describe the three main types of interest group
systems, and give examples of nations where each is prevalent.
• 4.6 Compare and contrast legitimate and coercive channels of
political access.
• 4.7 Describe the factors that contribute to the creation of interest
groups.
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3. Interest Articulation
• Process of expressing interests, needs,
demands by people and social groups
• As societies become more complex and
scope of government grows, quantity and
methods to articulate public interests have
grown
• Formal institutionalized interest groups
develop to represent labor, farmers,
businesses, social
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4. Citizen Action
• One dimension of interest articulation -
what individual citizens do:
• Voting is most common activity
• Working with others in community
• Direct contact with government
• Protests or other contentious action
• Political consumerism
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6. How Citizens Participate
• Activity beyond elections:
• Many activities identified with middle-class
participation in affluent societies
• Frequent activity found in advanced industrial
democracies
• Direct action most expressive and visible form of
citizen action
• Research shows better-educated and higher social class
individuals more likely to use opportunities for
participation
• Those more active in articulating interests are more likely
to have interests addressed by policymakers
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8. Interest Groups
• Interest articulation can occur through action
of social or political groups that represent
groups of people
• Anomic Groups: spontaneous group
• Nonassociational Groups: common
interests, rarely well- organized, activity is
episodic
• Institutional Groups: formally organized,
political parties, business corporations,
bureaucracies,Mosques
• Associational Groups: trade unions,
chambers of commerce, ethnic
associations
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9. Civil Society
• A society in which people are involved in social
and political interactions free of state control or
regulation
• Access to free communication and information
• Global civil society associated with
interconnectedness
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10. Interest Group Systems
• Relationship between interest groups and
government policymaking institutions is
important feature of political process
• Three major groupings:
• Pluralist
• Democratic Corporatist
• Controlled
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11. Pluralist Interest Group Systems
• Multiple groups represent single interest
• Group membership is voluntary, limited
• Often have loose or decentralized
organizational structure
• Clear separation between interest groups
and the government
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13. Democratic Neo-Corporatist Interest
Group Systems
• Single peak association represents each
interest
• Membership is often compulsory and
universal
• Centrally organized and directs actions of
members
• Groups are systematically involved in
making, implementing policy
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14. Controlled Interest Group Systems
• Single group for each social sector
• Membership is often compulsory
• Each group is hierarchically
organized
• Groups are controlled by government
to mobilize support for government
policy
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15. Access to the Influential
• Interest groups must reach key
policymakers through channels of
political access
• Legitimate, constitutional channels of
access
• Illegitimate, coercive channels of access
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16. Legitimate Access Channels
• Personal Connections:
effective means of shaping
attitudes and conveying
messages
• Mass Media: mobilize support
• Political Parties: represent
interests
• Legislatures: lobby target
• Government Bureaucracies:
policymaking authority
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17. Coercive Access Channels and Tactics
• Feelings of relative deprivation motivate people
to act aggressively
• Frustration, discontent, anger yields greater
probability of collective violence
• Riots (spontaneous)
• Strikes/Obstructions (coordinated)
• Political Terror Tactics (assassination,
armed attacks, mass bloodshed)
• More likely to have negative
consequences
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18. Groups and Channels
• To understand policy formulation, need to know
which groups articulate interests, their policy
preferences, channels of influence used
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19. Interest Group Development
• Diversity of interest groups is a consequence of
modernization
• Successful democratic development leads to emergence
of complex interest group systems
• Not an automatic process - many problems involved:
• Level of trust shared among members of society
• Authoritarian parties/bureaucracies may suppress
autonomous interest groups
• Bias within interest group system
• Levels of participation in associational groups
declining
• Change in how citizens organize, express interests
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