Participation in Public Interest Groups

Abstract

This article tests the exchange theory of interest group membership and finds that it applies to the members of four public interest groups: the League of Women Voters, the Conservative Caucus, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Common Cause. Survey data are used to determine the incentives for affiliation, membership renewal, and activism. The survey results demonstrate that public interest group members are like the members of traditional special interest groups in that they join in order to receive certain selective benefits. As expected, those benefits are more often purposive than material or sohdary. However, the member's responses indicate that there are at least three different types of purposive benefits that are salient for them: namely, a feeling of efficacy, a policy commitment, and a sense of civic duty.