The first is through the distribution of interest groups. In the 2001 Washington Representativeness Study, the overwhelming majority of organizations listed in the directory are institutions representing corporations, universities or hospitals. In addition, within membership groups, those in the highest SES quintile are more likely to be involved in the day-to-day functioning of the political associations they are apart of. Finally, the expressed interests of these groups have been found to be quite different than the expressed views of average citizens, with the interests of business groups showing a slight negative correlation with those of the average citizen (Gilens & Page, 2014). The disproportionate level of influence that groups representing business groups and institutions has led Scholzman et al. (2012) to proclaim “the heavenly chorus does sing with an upper-class accent and that the voices of advocates of broad publics and the less privileged are much more muted,” (p.
The first is through the distribution of interest groups. In the 2001 Washington Representativeness Study, the overwhelming majority of organizations listed in the directory are institutions representing corporations, universities or hospitals. In addition, within membership groups, those in the highest SES quintile are more likely to be involved in the day-to-day functioning of the political associations they are apart of. Finally, the expressed interests of these groups have been found to be quite different than the expressed views of average citizens, with the interests of business groups showing a slight negative correlation with those of the average citizen (Gilens & Page, 2014). The disproportionate level of influence that groups representing business groups and institutions has led Scholzman et al. (2012) to proclaim “the heavenly chorus does sing with an upper-class accent and that the voices of advocates of broad publics and the less privileged are much more muted,” (p.