Nathan Rowley, Chapter 8, Question 5

The passages that most interested me in chapter eight were the ones dealing with interest groups. I was initially surprised when I learned that a smaller group is often a more effective one in our political system. It seemed counter-intuitive at first, but when I began looking at the details, the logic became clear (seemingly a common characteristic of sciences: superficially confusing but internally logical). The idea that a small group is better than a large group flies in the face of the way our government is supposed to work: the majority is supposed to make the rules. However, the opposite is often the case, at least when dealing with a large, unorganized group like the general public. This is because the small group can effectively push for its agenda, while the large group is too unorganized to oppose it, even if that agenda is a net burden on the economy. In addition, the cost of meeting the small group's requests is spread out across the general public, so we barely notice it.