Interest groups are often defended as a check on or the tendency of democratic governments to allow the faint preferences of the masses to prevail over the intense feelings of minorities.

Cooperation among oligopolies runs counter to the public interest because it leads to underproduction and high prices. in an effort to bring resource allocation closer to the social optimum, public officials attempt to force oligopolies to compete instead of cooperating. consider the following scenario: suppose that the presidents of two auto manufacturing companies exchange text messages in which they discuss jointly raising prices on their new lines of hybrid suvs. this illegal communication would violate which of the following laws? the sherman antitrust act of 1890 the robinson–patman act of 1936 the celler–kefauver act of 1950 the clayton act of 1914