Interest Group Activity Research Articles

Some States Stepping In: Politics and Discourse in Foreclosure Prevention Legislation Outcomes During the Financial Crisis

ABSTRACT At the core of the 2008 global financial crisis was a foreclosure crisis in the United States. The federal government focused on responding to the concurrent banking crisis, leaving foreclosure prevention to the states. Despite a nationwide crisis, only some states advanced foreclosure prevention policies. Political theory scholars argue that political ideology and economic interests are the primary drivers of policy outcomes, while discourse scholars argue that themes in the public discourse shape policymaking. In this article, I integrate these literatures to develop and test an account of foreclosure prevention policymaking. To measure discourse, I scrape the text of over 20,000 state-level media publications and inductively code them using Structural Topic Modeling. Using event history analysis, I examine the relationship between discourse themes, political factors, and the timing of foreclosure prevention policymaking by state legislatures. I find that states where a “markets” theme was more prevalent in the foreclosure discourse were less likely to advance foreclosure prevention policies, whereas states with discourse focused on “intervention” were more likely to do so. Results also corroborate previous scholarship showing that political ideology and special interest group activity impacted these policy outcomes.

The Loci of Power and Connection: a framework for exploring the democratic relationships of civil society organisations

This article constructs a framework for understanding the activities of interest groups and other civil society organisations (CSOs) in relation to their democratic connections with people and communities. This is achieved by considering whether CSOs engage with people in terms of decision-making in a manner that is centralised or decentralised, counterposed with the nature of the connection, be it relational or transactional. The resulting LOPAC (Loci of Power and Connection) framework highlights four types of CSO activity, each of which has potential democratic utility and drawbacks: (1) Bare Essentials—decentralised engagement, transactional connection; (2) Crowd Control—centralised engagement, transactional connection; (3) Honeycomb—decentralised engagement, relational connection; and (4) Closed Doors—centralised engagement, relational connection. The framework is connected to key discussions within the literature, in particular around the legitimacy of CSOs, how CSOs act as transmission belts for citizens’ interests to reach those in power, and the ongoing professionalisation of the sector. The framework aims to assist scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to understand the democratic implications of the complex decisions that CSOs make on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, the framework aids in understanding what areas CSOs can focus on when they find that their modes of engagement are inadvertently having impacts contrary to their democratic aims.

Бюджетная политика развитых стран: игра по правилам?

The article examines the reasons for the adoption of fiscal rules in advanced economies, their main types, evolution and results of application. In the practice of fiscal policy over the past decades, there has been a steady trend towards budget deficits. There are two main reasons that explain this widespread deficit bias phenomenon: the tendency to push out the financial discipline burden to future governments or even to future generations and the interplay of political processes and interest group activities (common pool effect). Chronic budget deficits and growing public debts have prompted many countries to adopt certain national and supranational (in the EU) fiscal rules – long-lasting constraints on fiscal policy through numerical limits on main budgetary aggregates: budget balance, debt, expenditure or revenue. Fiscal rules can promote financial discipline and reduce the deficit bias in several ways. This influence on fiscal behavior arises from their capacity to “tie the hands” of policymakers and to be a useful signaling tool, helping to reduce the asymmetry of information between policymakers and voters. But the compliance track record with fiscal rules is relatively poor. They have failed to provide sufficient fiscal discipline: the deficit bias persists and the debt-to-GDP ratio in most advanced economies continues to grow. The adopted budget rules are periodically suspended, they are subject to revision, sometimes formally implemented by applying the creative accounting, policymakers use them as a tool of political bargaining. Ultimately, fiscal discipline does not depend on the existence of rules, but on the willingness of politicians to comply with this discipline.

Achieving Democracy through Interest Representation?

The article discusses a link between interest representation and its importance for democracy. After looking at the pluralist, corporatist and neo-pluralist approaches, the article focuses on the role of interest groups in associational, deliberative, and participatory democracies. I debate whether or not interest representation is a necessary element of democracy and whether the theoretical background can help us grasp it across all political systems. I address this question in the context of young, post-Communist democracies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). I argue that in the CEE countries when studying interest groups’ populations and organizational behaviour, we have to take into consideration a number of internal and external factors that impact perceptions and actual activity of interest groups when it comes to countries’ democratization.

Steunwerwing in Suid-Afrika

This article focuses on lobbying in South Africa, with special reference to the business sector. Lobbying does indeed take place in South Africa, but is on an ad hoc and unstructured basis when compared with the USA, for example. Most of the persons who perform local lobbying functions do so in a part-time capacity while maintaining major positions as interest-group officials, PROS In companies or as corporate executives. Rather than trying to measure their influence In the policy-making process, the study analyses the level of interest group activity and the lobbying techniques they employ. The institutional foci of lobbying activities are also identified. Conceptual and comparative perspectives are integrated with the empirical data.

Recent Developments in Interest Group Activity in the Northeastern States

This article uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the contemporary interest group systems of eleven Northeastern states and compares these with the interest group systems in the fifty states as a whole. It is found that recent changes in the socio-economic and political life of the Northeast have affected surface aspects of the region's interest group systems, such as the range of groups represented and the styles of representation, and has extended power to some new interests to an extent greater than in any other region of the nation. However, recent changes have not altered the fundamental dominance of the policy process by traditional economic and institutional interests which enjoy a marked advantage in the possession of the resources necessary for political influence. The findings from the research also call into question existing theories of an inverse relalionship between group power and (1) socio-economic development, (2) government professionalism, and (3) political party power in the Northeast and the states as a whole.

Before the Constitution

The movement for American independence from Great Britain was closely associated with interest group activity, and cannot wholly be understood without reference to the phenomenon. This association is documented with reference to a consistent definition of "interest group." Lesser known is the role that interest groups played in the movement to adopt a new constitution. Still, this paper argues, the growth of interest group activity during this era seemingly would have happened, although perhaps to a lesser extent, even without these movements.

Kingdon의 정책흐름모형을 활용한 「전라북도 학교자치조례」제정과정 분석

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamic enactment process of the 「Jeollabuk-do School Autonomy Ordinance」enacted in 2019 using Kingdon's policy stream model. The stream of policy issues includes indicators of the necessity of legal organization of school autonomous bodies, attempts to enact school autonomy ordinances by each city/provincial office of education, and feedback due to the limitations of the existing school autonomy operation. The stream of politics includes changes in the provincial atmosphere for school autonomy, the emergence and interest of a new administration, and the activities of interest groups in school autonomy ordinances. The stream of policy alternatives includes the proposal of Jeollabuk-do Office of Education, the proposal of Korean Teachers and Educational Workers' Union, the proposal of Korea Federation of Teacher's Associations, and the proposal of private school corporations and principals. These policy alternatives were influenced by policy communities such as teachers' organizations, teachers' unions, and school corporations. These three independent streams were combined as the change of administration became the trigger mechanism. In addition, as progressive policy entrepreneur such as the Jeollabuk-do Superintendent of Education is actively working to urge the enactment of the ordinance, the working-level council for promoting the school autonomy ordinance was held on March 26, 2018, combining these three streams to open a policy window. As a result, the Jeonlabuk-do School Autonomy Ordinance, which has been under legislative discussion for a long time, was finally enacted on February 1, 2019.

Medical students' perspectives on how COVID-19 has impacted their otolaryngology educational experience: A nationwide survey study.

ObjectivesTo evaluate how medical students perceive COVID-19 has impacted various otolaryngology educational experiences and appreciate useful adaptations/resources that can be implemented moving forward.MethodsWe circulated a web-based questionnaire among pre-clinical/clinical medical students. Participants were asked to rate their experiences in the realms of research, clinical exposure, faculty interaction, interest group (IG) activities, advising, and USMLE preparation considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative responses were mapped into thematic domains.ResultsCompleted responses from 201 medical students demonstrated an effect across all educational activities. Pre-clinical students experienced a negative impact on their IG involvement (77%; 86/111) and clinical students reported a diminished clinical experience (60%; 40/67), with 54% (36/67) citing below-expectation surgical exposure. Overall, 51% (90/178) of students reported a perceived decrease in beneficial otolaryngology career advising, decreased research involvement (57%, 101/178), and reduced faculty interaction (79%, 141/178). Faculty mentorship programs, curated video resources, and online question banks were selected as valuable resources during COVID-19 (21%, 20%, and 13% of selections, respectively) that may offer ongoing benefit. Free-response feedback also indicated that COVID-19 negatively impacted students’ mental well-being and inhibited opportunities to complete away sub-internships. As for supplemental resources, students appreciated virtual grand rounds/teaching, interest group events, online resources, and meetings with attendings/residents.ConclusionsAccording to students, COVID-19 negatively impacted a broad array of otolaryngology educational experiences including research, faculty interaction, and interest group involvement. Students also indicated several well-received adaptations, such as virtual mentorship programs, curated video materials, remote research opportunities, and online question banks. This feedback helps contextualize selection committee decisions and, importantly, assists clerkship directors and undergraduate medical educators to optimize their curriculums.

Emergence of universal antiretroviral therapy coverage in South Africa: applying the advocacy coalition framework to refine the narratives and inform epidemic responses

South Africa possesses the largest anti-retroviral therapy (ART) program in the world, but the path to this record was dramatic. There is scarce literature employing a comprehensive framework to explain this achievement and inform epidemic responses. This paper applies the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to analyse the interactions among diverse actors, institutions and networks that were associated with the AIDS policy change in South Africa. Post-apartheid, HIV/AIDS and AIDS-related mortality were serious public health problems. At the time, the discernible coalitions in the HIV/AIDS policy subsystem were the pro-science coalition and AIDS dissidents. In view of the availability of compelling scientific evidence on the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS, the clinical usefulness of ART, the availability of funding for national ART roll-out, strong global advocacy to reduce the cost of ART, all of these in an era when access to adequate HIV treatment/care was increasingly considered a human right, the environment to establish an appropriate HIV/AIDS policy for the country was conducive. However, AIDS dissidents dominated the policy agenda via their control over key institutions, the use of various dimensions of power, biasing evidence to inform policy, and promoting the activities of strong interest groups that were not in support of ART. National ART roll-out finally emerged as a political priority because of external shocks (on the AIDS policy subsystem) which disfavoured the dominant coalition. As in this important experience in the history of HIV treatment, stakeholders involved in epidemic response tend to engage in intense ideological conflicts. An adequate appraisal of the outcomes of these conflicts in terms of population health gains and adopted public health and social measures to control epidemics would require the supplementation of complex system thinking with relevant public policy concepts, notably power dimensions, governance, emergence of global health networks and evidence use in policy.

FAMILY MEDICINE WELCOMES LARGEST CLASS OF RESIDENTS EVER.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic-related issues that limited medical students’ in-person exposure to family medicine rotations, hindered family medicine interest group activities, and kept most residency recruitment efforts in a virtual format, National Resident Matching Program Main Residency Match

Autism and Systemic Practice Special Interest Group Activities

This item documents the work of the Autism and Systemic Practice Special Interest Group which focuses on depathologising theory and practice with autistic people.

Enhancing our understanding of the commercial determinants of health: Theories, methods, and insights from political science

Public health researchers concerned with the commercial industry's influence over health policy have contributed to the development of a new field of inquiry, Corporative Political Activity (CPA). While the CPA literature has improved our understanding of the tactics that industries use to influence health policy and outcomes, ironically, this literature appears to have fallen short of thoroughly engaging those social science disciplines focusing on the relationship between industry and government in the policymaking process, such as political science. The purpose of this article is to reveal how political science theory and method can generate new research questions for CPA scholars; propose alternative qualitative methodological approaches to causal inference, with a focus on historical and temporal analysis; and establish adequacy in causal mechanisms. The application of political science theories and methods may assist CPA researchers in their efforts to explain the durability and efficacy of CPA political tactics at the domestic government level, which of these tactics are more important, while providing greater depth into explaining how and why industries continue to obstruct policymaking. The author then propose an alternative political science analytical framework, Political Analysis of Corporate Political Activity (PACPA), that may provide a more thorough understanding of the politics of the commercial sector's policy influence. This framework integrates the political science literature highlighting the political and institutional contexts shaping interest group activities and policymaking influence along with the CPA literature discussing these issues, through a historically-based qualitative case study approach emphasizing the causal mechanisms behind industry's political activities. With respect to methodology, this article relied on an analysis of qualitative documents through a variety of on-line search engines and the author's extensive knowledge of the topic. Select case studies were used as illustrations supporting the author's claims. This research began in November 2020 and concluded in June 2021.

8 - Actors and Institutions in Urban Politics in Nigeria: Agege (Lagos) Since the 1950s

Unlike Lagos Island and Mushin, for example, Agege, a multi-ethnic and densely populated ward of metropolitan Lagos (originally an autonomous settlement, has suffered relative neglect in the extensive literature on Lagos. This article analyses the dynamics of power relations among the various interest groups, personalities and institutions in this ‘ward’ of Lagos since the 1950s. Combining chronological and thematic approaches, it outlines the evolution of the commu- nity and its local government system since the nineteenth century, examines the interactions of traditional and modern institutions (chieftaincy and modern po- litical offices at the local government level), the dynamics of inter-tier (state– local government) relations, the composition and activities of interest groups (specifically, religious, occupational, ethnic, youth and residential associations), and the management of common facilities (markets) and problems (communal conflict and insecurity). The study co pares Agege with a similar ward, Ajegunle, which this author has also studied.

Interessenvermittlung in den Ausschüssen des Deutschen Bundestages. Eine Erweiterung und Fortschreibung für die 18. Wahlperiode (2013 bis 2017)

Tuis article extends the existing documentation of interest group activities in the commit- tees of the German Bundestag for the 18th election period. Tue documentation goes beyond previous ones by including sub-committees and taking into account contacts between stakeholders and representatives also in regular committee meetings. While most figures structurally remain the same as in the 17th election period, changes can be identified in particular for committees whose responsibilities have changed. Tuus, established patterns of interest group representation may also change in the context of committee reorganization.

Christian Interest Groups in A Religiously Changing United Kingdom: Issues, Strategies, Influence

AbstractChristianity is in long-term decline in the United Kingdom, with decreasing levels of affiliation, practice, belief, and social authority. At the same time, however, Britain's churches and the faith they represent remain deeply embedded within culture and society. This paper offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of how the “sector” of UK Christian interest groups—that is, organizations with a Christian character that seek to influence government policy—operates within this changing socio-religious context. Based on survey and interview data, it examines the extent of Christian interest group activity in the UK, before assessing their issue agendas, lobbying strategies, and influence. The results indicate that the activities of Christian interest groups have been affected by decline, but also by Christianity's continued strengths within society. These findings provide a basis for deeper investigation of Christianity's political influence in the UK, and will also have implications beyond this case.

Local interest group activity and environmental degradation in authoritarian regimes

An extensive literature shows that democracies tend to do a better job of protecting the environment than autocracies. Much less work has been done to explain the considerable variation in environmental quality within many authoritarian settings. We help fill this gap with an empirical study of Vietnam – one of the world’s most stable authoritarian regimes as well as one of the most environmentally vulnerable. We focus on the relationship between interest group activity and environmental outcomes (air and water quality) at the district level. While the participation of more actors in civic and political life has the potential to improve outcomes by enhancing scrutiny of government, interest groups may also promote economic interests to the detriment of environmental protection. Our analysis shows that districts characterized by higher levels of local interest group activity tend to have lower air and water quality. This result is consistent across a range of model specifications and estimation strategies. These findings imply that organization of local interests may be detrimental to environmental quality in authoritarian settings and that effective mobilization of actors who would benefit from high environmental quality (i.e., citizens) may be overshadowed by those of pro-business interests. As such, our findings highlight the limits of popular participation related to environmental protection in authoritarian regimes – particularly those that base their legitimacy on economic development.

Interest group lobbying and partisan polarization in the United States: 1999–2016

AbstactThe lobbying activity of interest groups has been overlooked as a contributing factor to legislative party polarization in the United States. Using bill-level data from Congress and three state legislatures, I show floor votes on bills lobbied by more non-profit interest groups are more polarized by party. The state legislative data demonstrate the robustness of the relationship between lobbying and polarization, showing it is not an artifact of party agenda control, salience, or bill content. Increased lobbying from these groups in recent years helps explain high levels of partisan polarization in Congress and an uneven pattern across the state legislatures.

РОЛЬ ІНДУСТРІАЛЬНИХ ПАРКІВ ДЛЯ СТРАТЕГІЧНОГО РОЗВИТКУ ТЕРИТОРІЙ

The paper presents the operations and functional models of industrial parks as important components of territorial development in Poland, in particular the development of rural areas. It includes the data on the number of industrial parks in Poland. It also reviews the literature related to this topic. The aim and the objectives of this study are to analyze the most efficient functional models of industrial parks in Poland, in particular those located in the border region (Lublin voivodeship). We believe that their experience is the most appropriate for implementation in Ukrainian realities. Industrial parks are presented as a form of cooperation under fair competition. The paper identifies their place in regional development policy. It is worth noting that this cooperation is the most efficient when it is limited to the regional level. Its purpose is to coordinate the activities of economic, political, and academic regional interest groups. The paper reviews the influence of industrial parks on the competitiveness of the regional economy. It also identifies the prerequisites of their successful development. The examples of different models of industrial parks that operate in Poland are presented. The successful example of the Lublin Science and Technology Park, established in 2005 in the Lublin Voivodeship (Poland), is reviewed in detail. Its model is exceptional and relevant for Ukraine. Most industrial parks in Poland were founded by central government institutions. However, the park chosen for analysis was founded by the University of Life Sciences in Lublin and the self-government of the Lublin Voivodeship and the relationship between the partners was more balanced than in other industrial parks in Poland. The establishment and functioning of industrial parks have become of particular importance in Ukraine after the decentralization reform since most new hromadas (territorial communities) are not self-sustaining yet. However, the key purpose of all industrial parks, regardless of the name and profile, is to obtain innovative solutions that could have a positive impact on local and regional development in the longer run. The Triple Helix model is proposed to discuss the efficiency of industrial park operations. It describes the relationship between key institutions (participants) through the prism of stimulating economic development. The key aspect of the model is that the cooperation of businesses, academic circles, and public administration will promote the growth of innovations, entrepreneurship, and, in the long run, improve the standard of living in a region.

Право на протест під загрозою? Між зростанням автократії та сталістю демократії в Польщі доби кризи

The extraordinary situation caused by the pandemic resulted in the unprecedented limitations of freedom of assembly in Poland. By analyzing relationships between the ruling camp and protesters during the first wave of the pandemic in Poland, this article aims to evaluate to what extent the former respected the right to exercise protests. The analysis draws upon the method of cross-media source analysis, which involves the techniques of content analysis and thematic analysis. The news included in the source corpus comes from both state-owned partisan media (TVP1, TVP2, and TVP Info) and commercial media (Onet.pl, TVN24, RMF FM, and Rzeczpospolita). Source triangulation is necessary to compare views distributed by various media and determine the essential features of exercising the right to protest and respecting this right. This research contributes to the studies on the role of contentious politics during democratic backsliding (the drift from neo- to quasi-militant democracies) by shedding light on the protest activity of sectional and promotional interest groups as well as anti-government protests organized ad hoc. Such an approach reveals the nature of differentiation in repressing the opposition, regarding the right to protest depending on the type of opponent. Sectional groups are exclusive, and their membership is motivated by the self-interest of the section of society they represent. Promotional interest groups offer membership to all and are inspired by moral concerns affecting society (not only its section). The main argument is that the right to exercise protest was considerably limited during the first wave of the pandemic in Poland. The ruling party took advantage of the crisis to block protests to ensure public safety. Various sectional and promotional interest groups held fewer protests than in previous years, and they did not pose a significant threat to the ruling camp. Besides the decrease in social mobilization, the government repressed activists opposing any unconstitutional changes to the presidential electoral law and the organization of such elections. The government threatened its opponents, most of all participants of protests held ad hoc, with harsh repercussions, including detention and high fines.