The existence of interest groups represents a fundamental dilemma for the American political system. Interest groups work to gain advantages for themselves at the expense of the larger population.
Interest groups do play many positive roles.
Among other things, they represent people before their government. Yet a troubling aspect of interest group politics has to do with the nature of this representation. This inequity is also manifested in the resources available to groups. In recent years we have observed an upsurge in the numbers of interest groups. The most troubling aspect of that growth is the increasingly significant role political action committees, or PACs, play in financing congressional elections.