Decorporatization and organized interests in public policymaking in Norway: A tide that lifts all ships or an ebb tide leaving only the few afloat?

Abstract

AbstractOver the past decades, there has been evidence of a shift from corporatist representation to pluralist policymaking in Norway and the neighboring Scandinavian countries. This article examines the policy involvement of voluntary associations and interest groups within the context of decorporatization and pluralization. Should decorporatization be understood as a tide that lifts all groups into public policymaking, or an ebb tide leaving only the few privileged afloat? By analyzing survey data on Norwegian voluntary associations and interest groups regarding their contacts with the parliament, government, and administration in 1983 and 2013, the article presents evidence of a growing mobilization and representation of citizen groups that have traditionally held a less prominent position in the policymaking process. However, economic groups have also increased or maintained their access to the parliamentary and governmental arenas, and insider access appears to persist as a factor in shaping group representation. Furthermore, the results indicate a widening gap in more frequent access between resource‐rich and resource‐poor groups. This leads to a somewhat contradictory conclusion: In one sense, decorporatization has been a tide lifting all ships, but in another, also an ebb tide leaving the few afloat.