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Article: Public Interest
- Article from:
- International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
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Public Interest
RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
PUBLIC CHOICE THEORY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
While there is no one public interest, most political philosophers credit some notion of collective welfare. Examples include French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
’
s
“
general will,
”
U.S. president James Madison
’
s
“
collective good,
”
or English philosopher Jeremy Bentham
’
s
“
greatest good for the greatest number.
”
In debate, public interest is often invoked when a faction
’
s influence harms the larger group. As James Madison defined it in Federalist Paper number 10, the tenth Federalist Paper in a series of published articles arguing for the ...