The workings of special interest groups can and often do have a
significant effect on the general population, but nobody can afford the
time and energy it takes to keep track of every special interest group
that might affect him.
Often it seems as though the WGs reflect the broad consensus of the
community, and the IESG is the special interest group.
In my experience, IESG has tremendous breadth - considerably exceeding that
of any single WG.
Keith