ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author argues that a new group theory demonstrates how newly understood processes of group behavior counteract the problems of minority control. Countervailing power is a term out of favor with political scientists. Countervailing power can also occur when two economic producer groups, such as the lumber industry and the recreation industry, oppose one another. The theory of plural elites generally replaced the pluralist theory of the 1960s, which stressed widespread organization of interest groups, countervailing power among groups, and dispersal of political power among decentralized political institutions as important factors in promoting democracy. The pluralists seemed to imply that the weights on the scales of the policymaking process are in balance. The countervailing political processes of neopluralism oppose the interest group stasis of plural elitis. The plural elitists have stated an impressive theory of interest group stasis in the American political system.
