Running Head: GROUP LIBERALISM 1
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
HELM SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT
Group Liberalism
Submitted to Dr. Erik Root
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
PLCY 700 – B03
Foundation of Public Policy
by
Jervaughn Reid
September 26, 2021
GROUP LIBERALISM 2
Definition of the Group Liberalism
Interest group liberalism is a concept that was brought into the limelight by an American
political scientist called Theodore Lowi. Lowi explained that in this concept, the people in the
society with a common and similar ideology can put their efforts together to control their
ideology and the policies in their area of interest. For example, the interest groups in the United
States of America came together in the 1960s to influence American politics1. The powerful
interest groups can also promote their objectives by controlling the legislative committees in the
government.
Assumptions of the Interest Group Liberalism
The following are some of the assumptions.
Group leader’s positions are open and are elected by their constituents. This impacts
public policy because they take part in nearly all the decision-making regarding the policies that
affect their constituents2. This means that the policies implemented at times may not respect the
interest and wishes of their constituents but only those that favor them.
Another characteristic is that the leaders compromise the decision-making. For instance,
if a policy was to be passed, they may mobilize a group with similar interest as theirs in order to
block the policy from being implemented. Such approaches hinder the development and growth
of society. It means that the laws and policies that will be governing the offices within the
government will be only those that the interest groups see to be very important to them. Various
1. Azad Singh Bali, “Procedural policy tools in theory and practice,” in Policy and
Society: Vol. 40, (2021),1-17.
2. Theodore Lowi, “The New Public Philosophy: Interest-Group Liberalism,” in The
Political Economy, Cambridge University Press, (2021): 49-66.
GROUP LIBERALISM 3
sectors of the government have stalled due to such problems. For instance, in the judiciary, at
times the judges are forced by other people to make very irrational decisions.
How Does Public Policy Research Respond to the Assumptions of the Interest Group
Liberalism?
The Christian worldview may respond to the assumptions of the interest group
liberalism in a very snobbery manner. First of all, Christianity does not encourage this act of
interest-group liberalism. It encourages that leaders who are given the opportunities by the
people should respect the wishes of the people and should do anything that is of the interest of
the electorates3. For instance, if someone is elected as a member of a parliament, his main role is
to defend his people. When they start focusing on their self-gain, their constituents remain
suffering.
Christianity also condemns the assumptions of the interest groups to compromise
decision-making on various policies that affect the government. For instance, if someone realizes
that a policy is going to be passed in the parliament that does not favor his interest, he blocks that
decision. This behavior is uncalled for; it has hindered decision-making in governments4.
Interference with the decision-making process also prevents various arms of government from
properly doing what it was mandated for. For example, some courts make decisions that are not
true reflections of the judges but instead are the wishes of some few individuals.
Biblical Integration
3. Clyde Wilcox and Jeffrey M. Berry, The Interest Group Society, Routledge, (2018),
146.
4. Christopher Warshaw and Devin Caughey, “The Dynamics of State Policy
Liberalism,” in American Journal of Political Science:Vol. 60, (2016), 903.
GROUP LIBERALISM 4
The book of Philippines 2:4 states that " Look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others5.” The Bible encourages each person not to look into his interest,
but instead should also consider other people. Doing this ensures that a just society is created
where each person feels accommodated.
5. Philippines 2:4 (King James Bible)
GROUP LIBERALISM 5
Bibliography
Bali, Azad Singh, Howlett, Michael, Lewis, Jenny M. and Ramesh, M. Procedural Policy Tools
in Theory and Practice." In Policy and Society:Vol. 40, pp.1-17, 2021.
Berry, Jeffrey M., and Wilcox, Clyde. The Interest Group Society. Routledge, 2018.
Caughey, Devin, and Christopher Warshaw. "The dynamics of state policy liberalism, 1936–
2014." American Journal of Political Science 60, no. 4, pp. 899-913, 2016.
Lowi, Theodore J. "The New Public Philosophy: Interest-Group Liberalism." In The Political
Economy, pp. 49-66. Routledge, 2021.
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