<P> In United States politics, the iron triangle comprises the policy - making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups . </P> <P> Central to the concept of an iron triangle is the assumption that bureaucratic agencies, as political entities, seek to create and consolidate their own power base . In this view an agency's power is determined by its constituency, not by its consumers . (For these purposes, "constituents" are politically active members sharing a common interest or goal; consumers are the expected recipients of goods or services provided by a governmental bureaucracy and are often identified in an agency's written goals or mission statement .) </P> <P> Apparent bureaucratic dysfunction may be attributable to the alliances formed between the agency and its constituency . The official goals of an agency may appear to be thwarted or ignored altogether at the expense of the citizenry it is designed to serve . </P>

Which one of the following is an iron triangle