利益集团是一群支持某些观点并想要使国家向这个方向改革的人的集合，所有人或从属于某个利益集团或处于 
政治冷漠，而具体的利益集团倾向取决于多重因素，例如资质、
财富和
识字率等。不同人所属的利益集团取决于不同的标准，利益集团的具体观点也会随着当地宗教、社会运动和领导人的修正在不同国家间变化。值得一提的是，人群的不同个体可能支持任何一个利益集团，使得该群体支持所有的利益集团（尽管在支持人数上有差异）
所有的利益集团
与利益集团的合作与斗争构成了维多利亚三的核心玩法之一。除了政治冷漠外，游戏中共有八种利益集团。The classification and approval of an interest group determines which traits are active for an interest group at any given time, and how impactful they are. There are different traits, positive and negative, with positive traits being activated when an interest group is happy and negative ones when they are unhappy. If an interest group is powerful, the effects of any traits they have active are stronger, while an interest group that is marginalized cannot activate traits at all, as they are too weak to exert an effect on the whole country.
The following modifiers are the base effects. They are doubled when the Interest Group is Powerful (≥20% Clout).不同利益集团的意识形态和修正如下：
| 利益集团 | 意识形态 | 支持度 | 激活的特质 | 效果 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 军队
|
 沙文主义者  保皇主义者  爱国主义者
|
≥10（忠诚） |  爱国热情
|
+15%单位进攻, +15%单位防御 |
| ≥5（适中） |  老兵咨询
|
-10%军事科技花费 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  物资浪费
|
+25%军事商品花费 | ||
 Petite bourgeoisie
|
 Reactionary  Meritocratic 爱国主义者
|
≥10（忠诚） |  Treasury Bonds
|
-10% 贷款利率 |
| ≥5（适中） |  中层管理者
|
+10% 行政力 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  排外
|
+100% 歧视产生的激进派, -10% 影响力 | ||
 Devout
|
 Pious  Moralist  父权主义者
|
≥10（忠诚） |  多子多福
|
+2%出生率 |
| ≥5（适中） |  Divine Right
|
+10%权威力 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  虔信小说
|
-10%受教育机会 | ||
 Industrialists
|
 Plutocratic  Laissez-Faire  Individualist
|
≥10（忠诚） |  就业创造者
|
+10%资本家投资池贡献 |
| ≥5（适中） |  进步的引擎
|
-10%生产科技花费 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  避税
|
-10% 工厂税收 | ||
 Intelligentsia
|
 Liberal  Anti-Clerical  Republican  Anti-Slavery
|
≥10（忠诚） |  Propagandists
|
+50% 移民吸引力 |
| ≥5（适中） |  Avant-garde
|
-10% 社会科技花费 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  Social Criticism
|
-10% 威望 | ||
 Landowners
|
 Paternalistic  Stratocratic Patriarchal
|
≥10（忠诚） |  Noblesse Oblige
|
+10% 贵族投资池贡献 |
| ≥5（适中） |  Family Ties
|
+10% 影响力 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  Noble Privileges
|
-10% 农业、牧场、种植园税收 | ||
 Rural folk
|
 Agrarian  Particularist  Isolationist
|
≥10（忠诚） |  Farmer's Markets
|
+10% 基础设施 |
| ≥5（适中） |  Honest Work
|
+10% 农场、牧场、伐木场吞吐量 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  Old Ways
|
-10% 科技扩散 | ||
 Trade unions
|
 Proletarian  Egalitarian  Populist Anti-Slavery
|
≥10（忠诚） |  Solidarity
|
+10% 劳动力比率 |
| ≥5（适中） |  Industrial Organizers
|
+10% 工厂吞吐量 | ||
| ≤5（消极） |  Work-to-rule
|
-15% 建造效率 | ||
| Politically inactive
|
||||
*利益集团的意识形态会随着国家或法律变化，如 地主在奴隶制国家中持有
蓄奴主义者意识形态
**利益集团的名字会随着国家或政治体制/宗教变化，如
教会势力的名字取决于本国的国教
***当一个利益集团的政治力量小于5%时，不会受到相应的特征效果，当一个利益集团的政治力量大于20%时，相应的特质翻倍
意识形态
- 主条目：Ideology
Interest groups have a number of ideologies which determine their views on which laws the country should or should not enact -- interest groups will generally favor laws that align with their beliefs and benefit them in some way.
Different interest groups will have different ideologies (for example, the 
landowners are significantly more conservative than the 
trade unions), but these are not entirely set in stone. Ideologies can change over the course of the game and will also vary based on the current leader of the interest group, who comes with their own personal ideology and view of the world.
Additionally, some interest groups in certain countries have unique ideologies colored by their religion and culture, such as the Confucian Scholars interest group in 
中国 Qing China who support a Confucian ideology.
政治力量
Individuals inside pops contribute political strength to their interest group of choice, with the amount they contribute again dependent on multiple factors, the main ones being their material wealth and the status (and/or votes) they are offered under the nation's power structure. For example, a single wealthy 
aristocrat in an oligarchy will provide hundreds or even thousands times the political strength of a poor 
laborer.
Some pops have no political strength at all, usually due to being disenfranchised under the nation's laws (such as people of a religion or culture that is discriminated against, or women in countries that haven't instituted women's suffrage). These pops are "outside the system" so to speak, unable to demand reform through the regular political system of interest groups, and instead having to rely on other methods to put pressure on the government.
Clout and classification
The total political strength of all pops in an interest group is what gives it its level of clout -- the amount of political weight it can assert on the country and the government. The interest group's clout value is the percentage of the political strength it holds out of all the political strength in the country. For example, if all pops in the country have 100k political strength and the 
industrialists have 30k political strength, then they control 30% of the clout in the country.
Clout, in turn, will determine the interest group's classification within their country -- whether they are considered powerful, influential or marginalized.
Approval level
Interest groups have a level of approval, which is based on factors such as how much they approve of the country's laws, whether they are in government or in opposition, and how many of their individual members are loyalists or radicals. There are numerous other factors that can affect approval as well, such as the player's reaction to certain events or the decisions that they take.
It is possible for one (or several) angry interest groups to start a civil war, potentially bringing in foreign countries to support them.