Interest Organizations across Economic Sectors: Explaining Interest Group Density in the European Union

Joost Berkhout; Brendan Carroll; Caelesta Braun; Adam Chalmers; Tine Destrooper; David Lowery; Anne Rasmussen

doi:10.1080/13501763.2015.1008549

Interest Organizations across Economic Sectors: Explaining Interest Group Density in the European Union

Joost Berkhout, Brendan Carroll, Caelesta Braun, Adam Chalmers, Tine Destrooper, David Lowery, Anne Rasmussen

Centre for European Politics

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The number of interest organizations (density) varies across policy domains, political issues and economic sectors. This shapes the nature and outcomes of interest representation. In this contribution, we explain the density of interest organizations per economic sector in the European Union on the basis of political and economic institutional factors. Focusing on business interest representation, we show that economic institutions structure the ‘supply’ of interest organizations by affecting the number of potential constituents, the resources available for lobbying and the geographical level of collective action of businesses. In contrast, we do not find consistent evidence that political institutions produce ‘demand’ for interest organizations by making laws, developing public policy or spending money. This is in contrast to the extensive evidence that such factors affect lobbying practices. The European Union interest system is (partially) shaped by economic factors, relatively independent from public policy or institutions.

Original language	English
Article number	2
Journal	Journal of European Public Policy
Volume	22
Issue number	4
Pages (from-to)	462-480
Number of pages	18
ISSN	1350-1763
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2015.1008549
Publication status	Published - 21 Apr 2015

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences
business interest representation
European Union
interest groups
lobbying

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10.1080/13501763.2015.1008549

Cite this

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abstract = "ABSTRACT: The number of interest organizations (density) varies across policy domains, political issues and economic sectors. This shapes the nature and outcomes of interest representation. In this contribution, we explain the density of interest organizations per economic sector in the European Union on the basis of political and economic institutional factors. Focusing on business interest representation, we show that economic institutions structure the {\textquoteleft}supply{\textquoteright} of interest organizations by affecting the number of potential constituents, the resources available for lobbying and the geographical level of collective action of businesses. In contrast, we do not find consistent evidence that political institutions produce {\textquoteleft}demand{\textquoteright} for interest organizations by making laws, developing public policy or spending money. This is in contrast to the extensive evidence that such factors affect lobbying practices. The European Union interest system is (partially) shaped by economic factors, relatively independent from public policy or institutions.",

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AU - Berkhout, Joost

AU - Carroll, Brendan

AU - Braun, Caelesta

AU - Chalmers, Adam

AU - Destrooper, Tine

AU - Lowery, David

AU - Rasmussen, Anne

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AB - ABSTRACT: The number of interest organizations (density) varies across policy domains, political issues and economic sectors. This shapes the nature and outcomes of interest representation. In this contribution, we explain the density of interest organizations per economic sector in the European Union on the basis of political and economic institutional factors. Focusing on business interest representation, we show that economic institutions structure the ‘supply’ of interest organizations by affecting the number of potential constituents, the resources available for lobbying and the geographical level of collective action of businesses. In contrast, we do not find consistent evidence that political institutions produce ‘demand’ for interest organizations by making laws, developing public policy or spending money. This is in contrast to the extensive evidence that such factors affect lobbying practices. The European Union interest system is (partially) shaped by economic factors, relatively independent from public policy or institutions.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - business interest representation

KW - European Union

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Interest Organizations across Economic Sectors: Explaining Interest Group Density in the European Union

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Keywords

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