Influence Of Interest Groups Research Articles

Can The General Will Be Expressed in U.S. Elections?

This research delves into the nuanced relationship between election outcomes and the concept of the “General Will,” as elucidated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract. Through a multifaceted analysis, this paper scrutinizes the representation of election results by considering factors like voter turnout and restrictions, factional power dynamics, and the influence of monied interests. The findings reveal that elections, particularly within the electoral landscape of the United States, fail to truly express the will of the people due to gerrymandering, voter restrictions, and the influence of dark money and special interest groups. Drawing on insights from scholarly discourse, the study concludes by proposing potential solutions aimed at fostering greater alignment between election results and the overarching will of the people.

CHORUS: A New Dataset of State Interest Group Policy Positions in the United States

Abstract Research on the activities and influence of interest groups in state legislatures faces a data problem: we are missing a comprehensive, systematic dataset of interest groups’ policy preferences on state legislation. We address this gap by introducing the Dataset on Policy Choice and Organizational Representation in the United States (CHORUS). This dataset compiles over 13 million policy positions stated by tens of thousands of interest groups and individuals on bills in 17 state legislatures over the past 25 years. We describe the process used to construct CHORUS and present a new network science technique for analyzing policy position data from interest groups: the layered stochastic block model, which groups similar interest groups and bills together, respectively, based on patterns in the policy positions. Through two demonstrative applications, we show the utility of these data, combined with our novel analytical approach, for understanding interest group configurations in different state legislatures and policy areas.

Interest group resources, access, and influence: An empirical review

AbstractDo informational and financial resources systematically secure interest group access and influence on public policy, and is one of these two resources politically more valuable than the other? Answering these questions is vital to understanding some of the drivers of political inequality and skewed influence associated with contemporary democratic politics. Focusing on two of the most commonly mobilized types of resources—money and information—this article reviews 60 studies on the topic. First, a qualitative synthesis shows that informational resources tend to be at least partially positively related to access and influence, while financial resources are more ambiguously associated with both outcomes. Second, a series of meta‐regressions support this conclusion since they tend toward showing that informational resources are significantly stronger associated with these outcomes than financial resources. Thus, these results paint a more nuanced picture than the literature suggesting that moneyed interests subvert democratic politics.

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

Are interest groups effective public action influencers in the field of education? Case studies of two school reforms in Switzerland

This article interrogates the legitimacy and influence of interest groups in the elaboration of two school reforms of the last stage of compulsory schooling in two Swiss cantons: Geneva and Vaud. Based on the principle of participatory democracy, the Swiss political system raises questions about the specificities of interest groups’ influence on educational policies. What role is given to them by the political institutions? Conversely, what role do they grant themselves in school reform processes? This article is based on a sociology of public action and aims to determine whether interest groups influence educational policies. We investigated these actors’ involvement in the development of the reforms through a thematic content analysis of four corpora of texts for each canton. Our analysis of the data indicates that the influence of interest groups operates on two fronts: agenda setting and implementation of reforms. In contrast, interest groups are little considered during the process of drawing up bills in Parliament.

Still waiting for the “liberal revolution”? The Italian pro-competition law and the cases of taxi licences and beach concessions

ABSTRACT One of the main enabling reforms included in the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan is that of competition. In this regard, past pro-competitive attempts have usually disappointed expectations, above all due to the counter-mobilization of very powerful interest groups, able to act as veto-players in the policy process. This article seeks to contribute to the literature on the influence of Italian interest groups by focusing precisely on the pro-competition reforms in two highly politically salient policy sectors: unscheduled public transport services and beach concessions. Specifically, we want to make a triple comparison: between policy sectors, between subsequent stages of the policy cycle and between governments, focusing on the lobbying strategies deployed by the interests affected by the measures being considered. We interpret empirical findings on the basis of a detailed reconstruction of the policy processes, drawing on several interviews with privileged observers.

Institutions, public opinion, and advocacy camps: how interest groups benefit from supportive alignments to gain agenda-setting influence

ABSTRACT Despite the proliferation of studies on interest group influence, there has been limited research on the conditions that facilitate their ability to impact policy agendas. This study investigates the role of supportive alignments in enhancing interest groups’ agenda-setting influence, with a specific focus on the European Union. We argue that organisations aligning closely with institutional and societal actors are better positioned to push their ‘dream’ issues on the policy agenda while keeping ‘nightmare’ issues off. To assess this argument, we rely on a novel dataset comprising 301 mobilised interest groups on 56 specific issues. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of institutional alignments in gaining agenda-setting influence. Moreover, aligning with the public and other interest groups increases the chances of preference attainment. However, it does not lead to a higher likelihood of being perceived as an influential agenda-setter. Overall, our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of interest group influence, extending insights beyond legislative politics.

The role and impact of lobbying on society (as perceived by the people of the FRG)

The article considers the modern perception of the phenomenon of lobbyism, states the influence of interest groups on political processes in the countries of the European continent. The authors emphasize the relevance of the study of lobbyism, which is determined by the processes of political change and integration of the national and international economic space of the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany. On the basis of secondary interpretation of sociological data the researchers reveal the problems of public assessment of lobbyism, its influence on political processes in the EU countries. Attention is emphasized on the importance of society's requirements to the transparency of interest groups and lobbying. The position of the respondents regarding the maintenance of a register of lobbyists at the level of Germany and the EU as a necessary tool of public control is seen as important. Based on the results of the research, a conclusion was made about the influence of interest groups on the lobbying process. The basis of modern interpretations of lobbying is not the theory of pluralism or corporatism, but the theory of network management. According to the respondents, industrial corporations and the leading sectors of the German and EU economy, rather than politicians and political parties, benefit more from lobbying in the Federal Republic of Germany. These surveys suggest a dominance of lobbyists from the economic sphere of the industrial sectors, which, according to the respondents, gain an economic advantage when working in markets. At the same time, it is the authorities that receive a positive effect from lobbying in terms of expert information support of political activity. The authors conclude that it is necessary to further study the influence of interest groups and lobbyists on political processes and further deepen the transparency of the lobbying process, more detailed disclosure of administrative and tax reporting in order to increase public confidence in politicians, business and government.

The Influence of Interest Groups on U.S. Foreign Policy under D. Trump: An Experience of Cognitive Analysis

Significant changes in U.S. foreign policy, which were first declared during the election campaign and then began to be consistently implemented by Donald Trump and his administration, were in many ways a break with the established and successive foreign policy strategy, which has made this case the subject of numerous analyses and studies. This study attempts to examine the influence of interest groups on U.S. foreign policy under D. Trump through the prism of several approaches - interest group theory, network approach, cognitive analysis (using cognitive mapping methodology). As a result of the conducted research, practical results in the form of cognitive maps were obtained, and the limitations of the used methodology within the framework of the analysis of this case study were revealed.

Party–Interest Group Ties and Patterns of Political Influence

Organizational ties between political parties and interest groups are common in contemporary democracies, but little is known about the political effects of such ties. This article examines whether the strength of organizational ties between parties and interest groups affects the probability of (1) interest group influence on parties, (2) party influence on interest groups, and (3) mutual party–interest group influence in decision-making. Using novel interest group survey data from six democracies, we are the first to systematically examine the relationship between organizational ties and perceived and attributed influence across multiple policy areas. The findings indicate that one-sided influence is more likely when the actors have stronger ties but that such ties also increase the likelihood of influence going both ways. Close party–interest group relationships hence likely involve give-and-take across policy issues. These findings shed important new light on the role of parties and interest groups as intermediaries in democracies.

Bureaucrats, interest groups and policymaking: a comprehensive overview from the turn of the century

Government officers are key players in designing and implementing public policies. Not surprisingly, a growing body of research approaches their connections with other stakeholders, such as ministers, elected officials, and political parties. Fewer studies, however, address the relationship between bureaucrats and interest organisations. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent publications regarding interest groups and the public bureaucracy. The paper introduces the findings of an extensive literature review with bibliometric techniques and qualitative content analysis. To map previous studies, I analysed 1978 abstracts with VOSviewer and R. The final collection included 415 papers which were read and coded through NVivo. Based on this review, this paper exposes data on authors, countries, and research methods related to texts published between 2000 and 2022. In addition, it critically examines concepts and empirical evidence regarding the interactions between interest groups and government officers. This study advances the research agenda on interest groups by identifying gaps in previous studies and proposing new perspectives to analyse the political connections of the public bureaucracy. The findings indicate that most publications focus on interest group strategies, revolving doors, and venue choice. Fewer texts assess influence over political appointments and personal networks. Therefore, further research is required to address the causal mechanisms between access to the bureaucracy and interest group influence over public policies. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis revealed that research networks have been located in the United States and Europe and publications tend to focus on the ‘global North’. In this sense, more regional diversity might be beneficial for the development of theoretical and methodological structures able to ‘travel’ to other cases.

The Governing Establishment and Groups of Interest: The Echo of the Post-Soviet Reforms

The article analyses the activities of the governing establishment and groups of interest during the period of post-Soviet reforms. The specifics and the peculiarities of the formation of the power vertical in different historical periods that influenced the value system of the governing establishment and interest groups are elicited in the article. The economic policy and, as a result, the emergence of the most influential interest groups are outlined based on the example of the Soviet state reforms. Special attention is given to the role of cultural and geographic factors affecting the interest groups’ behaviour strategies. The scenario of the post-Soviet market reforms in the context of creating the competition-based economy is analysed. The institutional differentiation of private and state interests is justified and substantiated for the purpose of economic development.

The political economy triangle of government spending, interest‐group influence, and income inequality: Evidence and implications from the US states

AbstractThis paper introduces the political economy triangle (PET) concept of government spending, special interest groups (SIGs) influence, and income inequality, empirically confirming its existence and unveiling its nature while directly addressing key shortcomings of most prior research on the determinants of such inequality. Using static and dynamic panel techniques and data from the US states, it reports several new results: (i) the findings of previous studies regarding the roles of government spending and interest groups, including labor unions, in income distribution are confirmed, however, their estimated inequality effects grossly underestimate those obtained when endogeneity issues are accounted for explicitly; (ii) a dynamic tripartite relationship between the variables of the PET exists; (iii) government spending and SIGs' influence, including union strength, beyond their direct effects on inequality, have a separate positive impact through their interactions; (iv) the effectiveness of government spending in reducing inequality diminishes as the level of SIGs' influence and union strength increase in the short and long run, (v) the aggregate inequality‐increasing effect of SIGs is strengthened and the inequality‐reducing effects of unions weakened as the spending rises, in the short run and long run. Finally, the broad implications of these findings are discussed.

POLICYMAKING PROCESS AND METHODS: AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

Policy-making is regard to be a critical process that shapes the wellbeing and development of societies. It involves the creation and implementation of laws, regulations, and programs that help governments address the complex challenges faced by modern or developing societies. Effective policy-making requires the involvement of various stakeholders, which entails government officials, interest groups, civil society organizations, and the public. The institutional analysis of policy making process involves examining the formal and informal rules, norms, and incentives that shape the behaviour of actors involved in policy-making. It can help people identify the stakeholders involved in policy-making, their incentives, and the constraints they face. In recent years, Pakistan's policymaking process has faced a number of challenges and issues. The lack of coordination and collaboration among various government departments and agencies is one of the most significant challenges. This frequently results in contradictory policies and ineffective implementation. Another issue is the influence of powerful interest groups, as well as a lack of transparency in decision-making processes. These issues have slowed the pace of reform and hampered progress towards policy objectives. The case of Pakistan is incorporated in this article, which highlights the need for improved coordination and collaboration among government agencies, transparency in decision-making processes, and effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure successful policy implementation. This op-ed sheds some light on policymaking as a crucial process for achieving national goals and improving the lives of citizens.

Is there a liability of foreignness or foreign privilege in developing nation compliance monitoring?

PurposeDrawing on the international business and game theory literature, this study assesses foreign firm treatment in the early stages of regulatory enforcement.Design/methodology/approachTreating regulation intensity as an exposure variable, negative binomial regression models were applied to firm-level data from 32 emerging markets (n = 15,331) to identify the determinants of inspection interactions. Robustness checks also were performed via variable substitutions for several predictors and an alternative form of statistical testing (i.e. Tobit regression, since it arguably better addresses dependent variables with corner solution responses).FindingsControlling for multiple organizational, regulatory and national characteristics, the findings are consistent with a foreign privilege, manifesting in reduced vulnerability to multiple encounters with labor inspection officials. Moreover, inward FDI stock was negatively related to the general probability of repeat interactions regardless of locus of ownership, an effect that was not moderated by stage of development or the regulatory influence of host interest groups. This collectively suggests that foreign firms not only are favored in compliance monitoring but also work post-entry to influence agencies to generally benefit business.Research limitations/implicationsMore comprehensive assessments were precluded given the lack of information on reasons for contact, citations and fines, and inspectorate reactions to company responses. Second, enforcement-risk management was measured indirectly since investors' internal dealings and actions toward officials are unavailable in secondary sources.Practical implicationsThese findings have important implications for social responsibility, suggesting CSR stakeholders need to track enforcement more closely and exert pressure where needed so rights are not sacrificed for economic development.Originality/valueThis study provides the most rigorous assessment to date of the role that firm, government and economic factors play in national inspection targeting. It also examined whether foreign owners pool and leverage their political influence to impact general inspection activity, a previously untested prospect.

Does the U.S. Congress Respond to Public Opinion on Trade?

Are U.S. legislators responsive to public opinion on trade? Despite the prevalence of preference-based approaches to international trade, not much work has directly assessed the relationship between constituency opinion and positioning by members of Congress on trade bills. We assess dynamic responsiveness (whether shifting constituency opinion on trade yields corresponding changes among legislators) by exploiting an original dataset on the positions of members of Congress on the North American Free Trade Agreement at various points leading up to the November 1993 roll-call vote. We find no evidence of dynamic re-sponsiveness to shifting constituency opinion on even a highly salient piece of trade legislation. We provide qualitative evidence that interest group influence may instead be the predominant source of shifting legislator positioning on trade.

ГРУППЫ СПЕЦИАЛЬНЫХ ИНТЕРЕСОВ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ ИЗМЕНЕНИЙ НА ПРИМЕРЕ ИНСТИТУТА ВЛАСТИ-СОБСТВЕННОСТИ В РОССИИ

Parallels between the economic development of countries and the results of the actions of their elites are becoming more and more popular, which actualises the research into the areas of influence of special interest groups on the quality of institutions in different states. This study is based on the approach of methodological holism, according to which collectives are viewed as independent economic actors. The article emphasises that institutional change can occur both spontaneously and through the deliberate action of special interest groups. This essay analyses existing approaches to assessing the impact of collective actions on the historical process of institution selection, and considers the institution of power-ownership in Russia as a result of actions of special interest groups that influenced "natural" institution selection and blocked economic development of the country on this sub-optimal institution in order to maintain their redistributive advantages. The authors conclude that radical modification and destruction of this institution is necessary, but note that such changes are practically impossible on the basis of gradual reforms with an attempt to maintain a balance between all parties.

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over: Interest-Group Influence in Policy Implementation

Current research on interest-group influence in the European Union tends to focus on just one stage of the policy cycle, being agenda setting, the legislative process or (some aspects) of the implementation stage. We argue that this bifurcation of the research agenda is a serious shortcoming, as lobby dynamics may vary throughout different consecutive policymaking stages. As a consequence, lobby gains or losses in the legislative stage can be overturned in the implementation. This research note therefore explores how the influence of interest organisations travels across different stages of the policy cycle, most importantly between the legislative stage and the implementation stage. First, we observe that as policymaking is a continuous rather than a static process, also lobbying tends to stretch beyond the legislative stage. Second, we argue that the specific characteristics of the implementation vis-à-vis the legislative stage may structurally favour business and resourceful organisations over smaller groups and nongovernmental organisationss. Third, we illustrate the plausibility of our argument by means of an in-depth case study: the European Union Industrial Emissions Directive. We conclude with a call for a more integral approach to researching lobby powers throughout the policy cycle and provide a preliminary agenda for future research.

Interrogating the Role of Indigenous Interest Groups in Mitigating Electoral Violence in Nigeria

Since the country's return to a democratic system in May 1999, Nigeria's history is rich with instances of election violence and conflicts. There is evidence in Akwa Ibom State that elections pose a threat to the state's stability and security due to the possibility of election violence. Studies have demonstrated that free and fair elections reduce conflict and produce trustworthy leadership. Using the Etim-Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State as a case study, this paper examines the influence of indigenous interest groups in the reduction of electoral violence in Nigeria. The research design for this study was a case study. Dialectical Materialism: The J-Curve Hypothesis of Unfulfilled Hopes, a radical political-economic framework, and pluralist theories were investigated for the study's background. Seventy (n = 70) purposefully selected participants, including members of youth or interest groups, community leaders, and security professionals, provided data. Eighty percent of the responders were male, while twenty percent were female. The ages of respondents ranged between 18 and 48 years, and thematic analyses provided answers to five research questions. Political party/candidate competitiveness, arms proliferation, and unemployed youths as political thugs caused electoral violence. Election violence included gunshots, kidnappings, and vote box theft. Finally, indigenous interest groups could reduce electoral violence by working with state actors on peace-building strategies, mobilizing, educating, and involving youth in the electoral process and election security, supporting efforts to change the "Electoral Act" to favor online voting and mail-in ballots, and collaborating on water education. All governments should support alternative voting procedures, weapons control, and amnesty programs to map and check small arms. Nigeria's national, state, and local governments could prevent election violence via peace-building.