ABSTRACT
For as long as there have been elected officials and policy-making institutions in American society, there have been interest groups seeking influence. As early as 1757, groups of merchants sought to influence George Washington's bid for office by trading liquor for votes. Thirty-one years later, James Madison penned the classic "Federalist No. 10," which addressed how a well-devised government can and should "break and control the violence of faction." During the next century, agricultural and labor organizations were formed in an effort to protect the economic bedrock of the nation and those who provide it, and professional associations began to proliferate. The event that galvanized and served to forecast the future power of organized interests, however, was the 1896 presidential election of William McKinley. In that contest, McKinley, a Republican, shored up the support of corporate America while his opponent, William Jennings Bryan, procured the support of labor and agricultural groups. Outspending Bryan 20-to-l, McKinley easily secured the White House.
