ABSTRACT
At the most basic level, interest groups are nothing more than organizations that seek to influence government. Despite the sometimes negative connotation, especially when the term "special" is used to preface certain interest groups, group politics has historically been a useful means by which to extol the virtues of the US system of government. In Federalist No. 10, James Madison argued that a large republic, such as was being established by the US Constitution, would embrace many groups, thus making it less likely that any single faction could dominate. Contrary to the pluralistic notion, empirical research illustrates that Americans are not joiners by nature. In The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson rejected the pluralistic model and formulation that presumed people gravitate to interest groups based on human nature.
