Triangles, networks, and hollow cores: The complex geometry of Washington interest representation

In recent years a voluminous literature has appeared attempting to characterize the patterns of relationships between the Washington representatives of private interests-lobbyists in the broadest sense of that term-and the government officials with whom they interact in their pursuit of favorable public policy. Much of this literature is in the form of case studies of particular interest groups, governmental agencies, or specific policy decisions. Some of it rests on a broader sampling of observations from one or more of these three sources. Whatever the research foundation may have been, both normative and empirical judgments about this relationship abound in textbooks and other summary treatments.