Interest Organization Demography Research in Europe

Berkhout, Joost

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2434079

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 85 publications

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“…exactly within the typology provided in Table 1, a number of these groups conduct lobbying activities, and some authors advocate for their inclusion in interest groups' analysis (Berkhout 2015;Fraussen & Halpin 2016).…”

Section: Data Collection Evaluation Of Available Sources and Group Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have They Already Emerged? Mapping the Population of National Interest Organisations in Post-Communist Poland

Rozbicka

Kamiński

2021

Europe-Asia Studies

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While political parties provide a key channel for political representation, organised interests can also be an important mechanism. A valid question is whether a system of interest groups is capable of ensuring the representation of a variety of public and private interests. Addressing this conundrum requires data that map the essential traits of organised interest groups in a given country, including their number (density) and types (diversity). This article explores the density and composition of the Polish system of organised interests. The previously unexplored system-level approach delivers insights into the nature of the system and also provides a framework for the subsequent conceptualisation of advocacy and lobbying dynamics.A CORNERSTONE OF ANY DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY IS THE CAPACITY for its citizens to have a political voice, so that they 'can express their views, preferences, and interests to political institutions and hold public officials to account' (Fraussen & Halpin 2016, p. 476). Although political representation is achieved through voting for or joining and supporting political parties, elections are rare occurrences (every four years in Poland) and scholars question the participatory character of parties (Marsh 2006). The welldocumented debate regarding the transformation of party-political systems in Western democracies (expressed through, for example, electoral volatility and the fragmentation of party landscapes) and dissatisfaction with the representative system of government, has pushed scholars to explore the role of interest groups as mechanisms of political expression (Fraussen & Halpin 2016). 1 Against this background, it is crucial to examine the potential of the interest group system to address these democratic challenges and whether it can ensure the representation of a variety of public and private interests, namely who is mobilised, who is politically active, and who has access to the policy process (Lowery et al. 2015). The composition of the group system-its density and diversity-is an important way to judge such questions. It

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Section: Data Collection Evaluation Of Available Sources and Group Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have They Already Emerged? Mapping the Population of National Interest Organisations in Post-Communist Poland

Rozbicka

Kamiński

2021

Europe-Asia Studies

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The size and shape of the Italian interest system between the 1980s and the present day

Lizzi

Pritoni

2017

Riv. Ital. Sci. Polit.

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Within interest group research, scholars following the population ecology perspective mainly look at the demographic features of populations and systems under scrutiny: density and diversity represent the main dimensions investigated. Even though, in recent years, an impressive amount of literature on this topic has been produced, there has been neither systematic analysis of, nor empirical research into, the Italian interest system so far. This article aims to address this lacuna. Following a diachronic perspective, we count how many politically active groups have populated the Italian interest system with regard to two different periods: 1984–88 and 2010–14. From 1984 to 2014 the number of interest groups almost doubled and the density of the system greatly increased; diversity, however, has remained relatively more stable.

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Interest Organization Demography Research in Europe

Cited by 2 publications

References 85 publications

Have They Already Emerged? Mapping the Population of National Interest Organisations in Post-Communist Poland

Have They Already Emerged? Mapping the Population of National Interest Organisations in Post-Communist Poland

The size and shape of the Italian interest system between the 1980s and the present day

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