Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
In fact, some advocacy groups have received government funding to represent
the interests of those unable to represent themselves politically. Funding was mainly
provided to organisations who would advocate for citizens without sufficient skills,
power, resources or funds to advocate for themselves or participate in public debate.
This offered a way to connect unrepresented people to government through peak
bodies, helping to address inequalities in society.
A number of organisations, including the Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL),
had funding withdrawn in the late 1990s, prompting speculation about alternatives
for the representation of such groups. 71 Some groups, particularly organisations
providing welfare support, appear to have replaced some of this funding through
government service delivery contracts. These contracts included provisions to
refrain from commenting on policy, so receiving the funding limited their capacity
to comment on policy matters and undermined their ability to participate in robust
political and policy debate.
Are they ‘good’ for democracy?
Within the framework of political economy and public choice theory, organised
interests can be seen as a risk to good governance. Interest groups operate
ultimately from the same selfish motive: to benefit themselves, even to the exclusion
of others. They behave to maximise their economic, societal and legal or regulatory
conditions as they pursue their objectives in the political sphere. Political and
policy decisions may be attributed to the expedience and motivations of politicians
and political parties, such as electoral advantage, rather than policy best practice. 72
Ultimately, while governments determine which interests to indulge, interest
group behaviour cannot be separated ‘from the surrounding institutional and
cultural framework’. 73 In other words, governments cannot always be relied upon
to ensure a balance of optimal outcomes for all interests. 74 In this critique, interest
groups potentially undermine governance and the economy.
Democratic participation
More positively, Beer identified pressure group types which governments can harness
to achieve superior policy outcomes. In this way, pressure groups are functional:
they support, rather than destabilise, governance and democracy (although Beer
cautioned that special interests had the potential to ‘impair’ a political system’s
action for the long-term interests of its citizenry). 75 Beer’s more optimistic approach
71 Sawer, Abjorensen and Larkin 2009, 233.
72 Frey 1980, 66; Self 1993, 45.
73 Marsh 1995.
74 DeAngelis and Parkin 1986, 316; Marsh 1995.
75 Beer 1982, 4.
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