interest aggregation

7/31/2019 Interest Aggregation

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Interest Aggregation


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Interest aggregation

A. The activity in which the political demands ofindividuals are combined into policy programs

Competing demands have to be balanced (crop irrigation, drinkingwater supply, food provision, lower taxes)

Backed by resourcesissues with resources become moresignificant (money or votes)

B. Individual or group

two methods across which Interest AGGREGATIONoccur (single individuals = he/she may be important inthe processotherwise process is by groupssomeperhaps specially created for a particular policy issue)

Political Party the dominant group formstandingorganizations that generally exist to compete for elections

so that they can implement their policy agendas


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Personal interest aggregation Patron-client networks

a process of personal connections

benefits in exchange for loyalty

Static and difficult to mobilize for change When interest aggregation occurs primarily by

Patron-client then it is staticunlikely to change,makes crisis response difficult

This tends to exist mostly in underdevelopedcountries

Ex: Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador


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Institutional interest aggregation Groups are most able to make transition from

articulation of demand to aggregation of demandsbc/ they have resources

Associational groups(trade unions, chamberof commerce) sometimes have enough influenceto do more than just represent a particular interest

Institutional groupsbureaucratic & militaryfactionsgovernment bureaucracies negotiatewith groupssometimes are captured by specialinterestsbureaucracies like to expand and thisleads them to create client networks

Military organizationcontrol physical force

have power as aggregatorspolitical coups


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Competitive Party Systems

seek to build electoral support

depends on ability of party to freely form and to

compete for citizen supportthus even dominantparties (Labour now in Great Britain) are still

competitive parties (Democrats in Congress from

WWII until Bill Clinton)

Party structure and electoral laws, important in

this effort


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Parties and elections

What parties do:

Develop political positions

Attempt to win a majoritytarget the

center (in systems w/ only 2 parties) or

win a cohesive electoral base (in multiple

party systems)


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Plural versus proportional

representationElectoral systemhow vote choice is

translated into outcomes

In US, Britain, Jamaica, India, Canada

legislative election rules divide country

into election districts; in each district first

past the post or candidate with the mostvotes is the rule. Simple single member

district PLURALITY ELECTION RULE


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PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

-country divided into few large districts (or singlenational district) and competing parties offer listsof candidates.

-Number of legislative seats a party wins depends onthe percentage of the vote the party receives

-For example: party winning 5% of the vote could

win 5% of the seats in the national legislature (thiswould be an example of an electoral rule for anational district and would have been developedahead of the election)


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Two Major Types of Party

Systems Competitive and Authoritarian

Competitiveparties aggregate interests

through elections, participation in governmentand implementation of policy

Authoritarianattempt to develop policy

proposals and mobilize support within the ranks

of the party in interaction with specific groups;

can be very responsive to social demands (ex:

CCP)


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Competitive Party Systems

Majoritariantwo party dominant system (eitherbecause the parties dominate or because electionlaws help them win)

Multiparty-narrowly based parties that negotiateand create alliances to achieve goals (exist becausea variety of circumstances make party dominationdifficult)

Consensual or conflictualare the partiesrelatively close on policies? Do they generallytrust one another and the political system? OR arethe parties far apart


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Consociational Party Systems

Mixedboth conflictual and consensualelements

Society has cleavage points that crosscutand become cumulative

Leadership works to bridge the gap

(relatively intense gaps) betweenantagonistic voters (utilizing crosscuttingdifferences).


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Military Interest Aggregation

Military rule seems illegitimate

Able to aggregate interests due to monopoly

of coercive resources Difficulty with bureaucratic

professionalization issues and with military

professionalization issues Responsive to demands to leave or areoverthown (typically transient rulers)


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Trends in Aggregation

Internationally interest aggregation appearsto be moving toward the democratic model

Explanation for this trend?Decline of ideology

Change in public acceptance of unpopularregimes

International efforts to support democratization

Illegitimate nature of autocratic regimes

interest aggregation

Documents