Does the Interest Group Choir Really “Sing with an Upper Class Accent?‘

Abstract

Abstract Since Schattschneider (1960), several scholars have argued that the least powerful groups in society will have limited access to the governmental arena; the bias inherent in the system will largely prevent those lacking in power from attaining many of their policy preferences. Yet race and gender-based groups, two of the least powerful groups in society, have been relatively successful in getting some of their demands turned into policy.