I’m repeating myself, which I guess is a sign I’m not writing clearly. I think the way you’re looking at it is this:
Interest group lobbies → politician pushes for the pork- > pork gets included.
My claim is that the true mechanism is this:
Politician wants some funding to show constituents → may turn to interest groups in district to see what projects need funding (or may just know about projects in their home district) → politician pushes for pork → pork gets included
I’m repeating myself, which I guess is a sign I’m not writing clearly. I think the way you’re looking at it is this:
Interest group lobbies → politician pushes for the pork- > pork gets included.
My claim is that the true mechanism is this:
Politician wants some funding to show constituents → may turn to interest groups in district to see what projects need funding (or may just know about projects in their home district) → politician pushes for pork → pork gets included