Study Questions on Interest Groups
- What is the main point of each author's article?
- To what research tradition does each author's theory belong?
- What are the assumptions of each theory?
- What is the unit of analysis?
- What is the phenomenon that each author is trying to explain?
- What do interest groups do?
- How does each author explain that phenomenon?
- What evidence does each author use?
- What are the strengths of each theory?
- What are the weaknesses of each theory?
- What are the causal mechanisms?
- How is each theory progressive or not?
- How would one test which theory is right?
- What are the normative implications of each theory; that is, what does this mean for
American democracy?
Things to look for/keep in mind for future/past readings:
- connections to previous readings
- interest groups vs. social movements
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Syllabus