ABSTRACT
The American public often demonizes special interests for subverting the common good. As Matt Grossmann points out, however, the preponderance of research indicates that interest groups do not easily shape public policy by their political activities. Grossmann's work suggests that the story is complex as he highlights just how difficult it is for any group to affect policy. The system is heavily biased toward the status quo, and most interest groups are unlikely to have much influence no matter what they do. Grossmann's work, however, reveals some findings that challenge conventional expectations about who has power. The strength of his research, like others in this volume, is its multi-pronged approach to analyzing the question. He draws on news archives, hundreds of historical accounts, and legislative outcomes to assess the effectiveness of groups. In discussing his research design, he explains why it remains so hard for political scientists to establish causal links between interest group activity and policy outcomes. His account pushes us to think clearly about what might constitute genuine evidence of interest group power. The findings of “minimal influence” raise puzzling questions about what interest groups expect from all their expensive efforts.
