ABSTRACT
The concept of political interest groups in a political system presupposes two conditions. These are distinct sets of interests and values shared by groups or institutional memberships, and the existence of "conflict" in the system, that is, a modicum of tolerance for the public and private articulation of policy-relevant interests and values that are not necessarily those of the ruling elite. Among the focal topics of various studies of Soviet interest groups, the military establishment seems to be the most promising and, at the same time, the most difficult. As an interest group, the military tends to be highly self-centered, competing with other groups for status, resources, and influence. The officer corps generally prefers a social planning policy that subordinates consumer interests to defense needs, urging large allocations to heavy industry. The military's basic interests may be broadly divided into two categories: "ideological" and functional.
