"The End of Liberalism? : The Defense"

Theodore Lowi’s "The End of Liberalism: The Indictment" carries a great deal of weighty criticism and discontentment in title as well as content. Lowi insists that modern democracy has been corrupted by the political philosophy of “interest group liberalism”. He cites the concept of pluralism in government as the philosophical component of this policy of interest group liberalism. He summarizes the four components of his indictment:

First, he states that the public philosophy of interest group liberalism inherently corrupts the democratic system because it distorts expectations of democratic institutions. According to Lowi, by allowing interest groups to influence politics, legitimacy of the authority of leaders is uncertain. “Liberal practices reveal a basic disrespect for democracy” in that they cause integrity of the institution and justice to be questionable.

Second, Lowi accuses interest group liberalism of rendering government ‘impotent”. Essentially, he argues that many plans are presented as possibilities, but resolute plans are never agreed upon and put into action. The more government expands to include more input from various interests, the more public order suffers.

Lowi goes on to assert that interest group liberalism demoralizes government because liberal government is unable to achieve justice. The definition of justice under liberalism is unclear, and difficult to put to use. In fact, “The whole idea of justice is absurd.” He determines that liberal government lacks effective rules for government actions to be regulated by – basically, government runs rampant without constraint as does the bull in his clichéd china shop analogy.

In his final point, Lowi observes that interest group liberalism cripples the formalisms found within democracy. Informal bargaining is a necessity in a political climate dominated by interest groups, which overshadows the often unpopular observance of formality constraints. This separation between rules and reality often causes a degree of healthy political cynicism, but can also evolve into distrust.

Lowi concludes that while interest group liberalism is meant to combat the absolutist nature of majority/minority rule in democracy, it only succeeds in stripping democracy of its authoritativeness. This liberal effort negates democratic power rather than enhances it.

While Lowi’s argument is based in valid concern, it is debatable whether or not the pluralistic nature of United States political culture is a negative. Interest group activity is a common way for citizens to influence policy by supporting an interest group they identify with. It is difficult for citizens who are distant from the Washington epicenter of politics to have any considerable influence on policy without the collective force of an organized interest group. Interest groups often encourage more citizens to become involved in elections by spotlighting important political issues, resulting in greater span of democratic participation. Admittedly, interest groups do cause problems in democracy, especially in the case of national interest groups intruding into state and local politics. But overall, interest groups reflect the variety of opinions and concerns of the US public that would otherwise go unnoticed by most government officials.

It is important to keep Theodore Lowi’s claims in consideration in order to prevent interest groups from damaging the legitimacy of the US representative democracy. As long as well-moneyed interests do not grow to exercise an unjustly disproportionate amount of political capitol, interest groups should be welcomed in American politics as a means by which the average citizen can enjoy a greater amount of political efficacy.

Works Cited

"The End of Liberalism: The Indictment" by Theordore Lowi from Classics of Public Administration

Theodore J. Lowi (born July 9, 1931) is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in the government department at Cornell University. His area of research is American government and public policy.