It is important to emphasize the weaknesses of the economic approach.
Because these models are abstract and formal, they may well leave out components
of group formation, goal setting, and maintenance that arc not mere details
but are integral parts of the political process. But this is only a potential criticism;
the case is by no means prima facie. What is important and what is detail is a
crucial distinction, but the fact that a model abstracts from detail to present a
parsimonious formulation of a complex system is not sufficient cause for rejection.
The burden of proof that some aspect of democratic politics (political culture,
voting rules, or legislative institutions such as committees) is crucial to the
process lies with the reader. The process of incorporation of the economic approach into mainstream political science is well begun, and extensions and corrections
have been added. The economic approach is by no means the only tool
useful for understanding interest group activity, but it is important. In this review
we have tried to make it a more widely available one.