ABSTRACT
This chapter tackled the question of whether group membership can indeed predict what is on a given public policy-maker's agenda. By analysing data from the UK Parliament, the authors can conclude that policy-makers who belong to group X are more likely to propose or participate in discussions about policies that benefit group X, in comparison to policy-makers who do not belong to group X. This supports the argument that the notion of the common good in policy-making is often exclusive. The group in group motives represents, not society in general, but a particular social category with which a public policy-maker identifies. Which group will depend on the characteristics of the psychological situation: the group memberships of those around, the group relevance of a particular policy issue, the type of policy issue, and so on. In understanding the group motives of public policy-makers, therefore, we need to establish which specific group is concerned.
