iron triangle
Lobbying power structure
An iron triangle is a stable, mutually beneficial alliance between three entities—typically a government agency, a congressional committee, and an industry lobby group.
Each corner reinforces the others: the agency gets funding, legislators get campaign support, and the industry gets favorable regulation.
The term is used critically to describe entrenched policy networks resistant to outside influence or reform: The defense iron triangle ensures military spending stays high regardless of which party controls Congress.
Lawmaker subgroups for oversight
- special interestsGroups seeking policy influence
- defense contractsGovernment deals for weapons
- appropriationsDesignated funds for purposes
- subcommitteesSubordinate legislative panels
pork barrel · earmarks · government agencies · interest groups · bureaucracy · lobbying · policy-making · revolving door
Temporary alliance for action
- symbiosisInterspecies biological interdependence
- trilateralHaving three sides
- interdependenceReciprocal reliance between entities
- mutual supportAid flowing both directions
stakeholders · vested interests · cooperation · network · collusion · entrenchment · insiders · power brokers
State of being unbending
- stabilityResistance to displacement
- strengthPower to exert force
- durabilityResistance to wear
- trussLoad-bearing beam arrangement
reinforcement · framework · load-bearing · engineering · geometry · support · bracing · tension
congressional committees
Lawmaker subgroups for oversight
- special interestsGroups seeking policy influence
- defense contractsGovernment deals for weapons
- appropriationsDesignated funds for purposes
subcommittees · pork barrel · earmarks · government agencies · interest groups · bureaucracy · lobbying · policy-making · revolving door · influence peddling
coalition
Temporary alliance for action
- symbiosisInterspecies biological interdependence
- trilateralHaving three sides
- interdependenceReciprocal reliance between entities
mutual support · stakeholders · vested interests · cooperation · network · collusion · entrenchment · insiders · power brokers · closed system
rigidity
State of being unbending
- stabilityResistance to displacement
- strengthPower to exert force
- durabilityResistance to wear
truss · reinforcement · framework · load-bearing · engineering · geometry · support · bracing · tension · compression
- Vietnam WarVietnam War, Vietnam, Tet Offensive, My Lai Massacre, Viet Cong
- Trianglesequilateral, isosceles, scalene, hypotenuse, vertex
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis, Eastern Bloc
- geopoliticsbalance of power, bipolarity, bloc, blocs, brinkmanship
iron triangleopen government
Right to state information
sunshine laws · public accountability · democratic oversight · civic participation · government transparency
iron trianglepublic interest
Societal welfare and benefit
common good · consumer advocacy · public interest group · consumers · popular sovereignty
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