Growth has been notable among both citizens groups and corporate lobbies. The tremendous growth of interest group politics raises some disturbing questions for American democracy. The classic argument that the U.S. interest group system truly represents American diversity is called pluralism . An examination of the interest group system reveals that this model is deeply flawed. Business wields disproportionate influence in the system.
Corporate lobbies tend to represent the interests of producers rather than consumers.
In addition, only a small percentage of adults are members of special interest groups, and this membership is skewed by occupation and income. Moreover, interest group participation seems to be declining, especially among younger citizens. The end result, contrary to pluralist theory, is a pressure-group system heavily biased in favor of corporations and the wealthy. The collective action problem is another damper on the formation of broader interest groups. Yet even in the face of the collective action problem, public interest groups have flowered over the past three decades.