ABSTRACT
The way in which public authorities respond to the group demands is critical to the well-being -- and even the survival -- of the political system. Collective demands for political, economic and social equity must be viewed as a natural and indispensable part of the political process, not as evidence of a malfunction or a negative attitude. This chapter discusses general public dissatisfactions over distributive issues and upon the critical roles that political elites play in shaping these dissatisfactions into effective demands for communication to the center. It focuses on the brokers' distinct and critical role as a shaper and communicator of messages points to a divergence between the general public's demands and those more effectively pressed by the community's spokesman upon government decision-makers. Although negotiable and nonnegotiable demands represent two basic tendencies in the policy process as it affects interethnic relations in real-life situations, to characterize specific collective demands under such rubrics.
