The demography of interest organization communities: Institutions, Associations, and Membership Groups

Using population data on six state populations of interest organizations from 1980 and 1990, the authors find that (a) organized interests frequently exit the lobbying community; (b) institutions exit at a higher rate than associations or membership groups; (c) exit rates potentially have great influence on the composition of interest organization populations; and (d) exit, but not entry, rates are greatly influenced by the density of interest organization populations. On the basis of these findings, the authors make a number of suggestions for the further study of the demography of interest organization communities.