Pennsylvania state Supreme Court election

    During the new Pennsylvania state Supreme Court justice election, special interest groups have spent over 5 million dollars, potentially even 6, on campaign funding for the two candidates. One of the candidates, Brobson, has even been reprimanded by the bar association due to the nature of his attack ads on his opponent being so disparaging and false. This election is not unlike past campaigns, as previous campaigns have received up to 22 million dollars from special interest groups so that their candidate wins the justice position. This amount of spending on candidates is concerning. It takes away the court's integrity as the benefactors are not donating out of goodwill instead to obtain rulings that benefit them later. 

    The special interest groups in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice election are self-interested actors who strive to capture regulation to benefit themselves. Special interests groups gaining too much power worried Olson. He believed that these groups being overly powerful would lead to the demise of the nation. Like Olson, the author of this article also believes that once special interest groups gain control of political or judicial systems, they lose their integrity. Individuals would be able to pay for outcomes in the courts they want, rather than the judicial process working. These groups are more effective than other parties (voters/citizens) as they can overcome organizational costs to achieve their goals. Unfortunately for Olson and the author, these special interest groups will continue to be more effective as they can place more pressure relative to the other groups (general voters/citizens).