Political Parties and Interest Organizations at the Crossroads: Perspectives on the Transformation of Political Organizations

Abstract

This article reviews the case for considering the study of parties and interest organizations together, under the umbrella of "political organizations." While both literatures are rather disconnected at the moment, we believe that they share many commonalities. A common narrative involves the apparent transformation of parties and interest organizations, as both organizations are continuously adapting to changing environments. In this review, we integrate both literatures and assess arguments for organizational convergence vis-à-vis claims of continuing diversity. Building upon recent work that takes a more joined-up approach, we advance a common research agenda that demonstrates the value and feasibility of studying these organizations in tandem. Scholars of political parties and interest organizations increasingly seem to grapple with very similar questions, such as the evolving position of these organizations between society and state, the difficulties of engaging citizens and the extent to which external factors, such as state regulation and mediatization, shape organizational structures and practices. So far, unfortunately, a lack of engagement across the party and interest organization literatures has resulted in highly informative yet parallel conversations on what might productively be conceptualized as the same basic trends or processes. We believe our understanding of the organizational form and development of interest organizations and political parties would be advanced substantially by addressing them under the broader

The balancing act of establishing a policy agenda: Conceptualizing and measuring drivers of issue prioritization within interest groups

“…Some of the seminal work in the field has spent considerable time pondering the way in which groups made decisions, were funded and engaged with their memberships. More recent research has once again highlighted the importance of these internal dynamics (Barakso, ; Browne, ; Goss, ; Fraussen, 2014; Halpin, 2014; Heaney, ; Strolovitch, ; Young, ). While we know that groups think strategically about their policy agenda and actively make trade‐offs between different demands and objectives, we know of no empirical work that has specifically elaborated and documented the distinct drivers of this process of issue prioritization among groups.…”

Political Parties and Interest Groups

“…The study of parties and interest groups represent separate research areas for good reasons. Despite similarities, parties and organized interests are fundamentally different as collective political actors (Fraussen & Halpin, 2016). The ongoing struggle between them is one of the basic features of democratic politics.…”

Balancing constituency and congruence: How constituency involvement affects positional congruence between organized interests and the general public

“…Political parties often also face a dual constituency (i.e., voters and members) and policy‐seeking parties with strong intraparty democracy are less flexible in adjusting their policy views to the median voter (see Strøm & Müller, 1999). Similar to political parties that face a trade‐off between maximizing their votes and insisting on particular policy preferences of the party members (Strøm & Müller, 1999); interest groups experience a tension between the need to engage with their constituency and the need to adopt positions that resonate broadly with the general public (Fraussen & Halpin, 2018; Halpin et al, 2018; Jordan & Maloney, 1997, 2007; Lowery, 2007). When constituents are actively involved in establishing the positions an interest group pursues, constituency support is generally secured but the group's alignment with the broader public may be constrained, diminishing its chances of lobbying success (De Bruycker, Berkhout, & Hanegraaff, 2018; Lowery, 2007).…”