Images. I prefer this to the one I have on the slides:
Here's a reasonable definition from a polisci prof at Auburn:
The closed, mutually supportive relationships that often prevail in the United States between the government agencies, the special interest lobbying organizations, and the legislative committees or subcommittees with jurisdiction over a particular functional area of government policy. As long as they hang together, the members of these small groups of movers and shakers tend to dominate all policy-making in their respective specialized areas of concern, and they tend to present a united front against "outsiders" who attempt to invade their turf and alter established policies that have been worked out by years of private negotiations among the "insiders."
The classic example of an Iron Triangle is the military industrial complex, a term coined by Dwight Eisenhower to refer to the
. . . policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the military industrial base that supports them. These relationships include political contributions, political approval for military spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and oversight of the industry.
The Wikipedia entry has other examples. For example:
Agriculture: agribusiness (the food industry) is an interest group constituency that seeks to benefit from certain government agricultural policies, such as agricultural subsidies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture services these constituencies. Senators and representatives wield enormous power, and are unlikely to obtain office in agriculture-driven regions if they oppose these policies. This results in certain agricultural products being subsidized by taxpayers.
