Abstract
AbstractInterest groups cannot advocate on every issue they might consider relevant. They must decide what issues to prioritise and which ones to leave to one side. In this article, we examine how groups seek to balance different internal and external considerations when prioritizing issues, and which factors might explain variation in the relative strength of these drivers. We integrate data of a survey of national interest groups in Australia with findings from interviews with a cross section of high-profile groups. While the literature often suggests a clash between external political considerations and internal membership demands, we find that groups view these drivers as largely compatible. Our explanatory analysis points to the policy orientation and insider status of the group, its democratic character, and the extent to which it faces competition for membership contributions, as important factors shaping the relative strength of distinct drivers of internal agenda setting.
Highlights
In their important work on the allocation of political attention, Jones and Baumgartner (2005) explain that the political environment is especially information-rich and that political actors are faced with the challenge of issue prioritization
We provide an important contribution to this literature by examining this process of issue prioritization among a specific category of political organizations, namely, interest groups
If we focus our attention on resource dependencies of a financial nature, it is reasonable to expect that a group facing strong competition from other like-groups for donors and members will be more sensitive to the wishes of its members and donors
Summary
In their important work on the allocation of political attention, Jones and Baumgartner (2005) explain that the political environment is especially information-rich and that political actors are faced with the challenge of issue prioritization. They say: “ : : : prioritization somehow means winnowing – dropping from consideration for the time being problems that can wait” (Jones and Baumgartner 2005, 11). We provide an important contribution to this literature by examining this process of issue prioritization among a specific category of political organizations, namely, interest groups. By “policy work,” we do not refer narrowly to only active lobbying, but to the full range of policy preparation activities that groups engage in (see Jordan 2009; Leech 2011)
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