Interest Group Theory Research Articles

Unveiling the Underlying Factors and Ripple Effects of Electoral Violence in the Tamale Metropolis

This study reveals the underlying factors promoting electoral-related violence and its effects in the Tamale metropolis. The case study design guided the research, with a mixed-methods approach used for the data collection. Two hundred and fifty closed and open-ended questionnaires were administered to respondents, while five key informant in-depth interviews were conducted. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and a thematic approach was used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from the study. It was revealed that electoral violence is engendered by multifaceted root causes, encompassing political, social, and economic dimensions. However, poverty was noted as the leading cause of electoral violence in the Tamale metropolis, representing 34.8%. The research found that election-related violence has significant effects on the socio-economic development of Tamale metropolis. These include the maiming of people, deaths, and destruction of public and private properties. These findings confirm the conceptual framework on which this study is anchored. Drawn from identity and interest-group theories, the conceptual framework posited that election-related violence leads to loss of lives, loss of property, harassment of citizens, displacement of citizens, disruption of public order, and maiming of citizens. It was further established that addressing the problem of electoral violence in the Tamale metropolis requires a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach that involves various stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society organisations, political parties, and the local community. Therefore, it is recommended that the government work in collaboration with non-governmental and civil society organisations and community stakeholders to address poverty among youth by creating employment opportunities. This has the potential and significant tendency to reduce the influence of politicians in inciting the youth to indulge in electoral violence-related activities.

УПРАВЛІННЯ СТЕЙКХОЛДЕРАМИ У ВОЛОНТЕРСЬКИХ ПРОЄКТАХ

The issue of the significant role of volunteering in solving social problems in modern conditions is considered. The low effectiveness of the processes of interaction of interested parties during the implementation of charitable initiatives is emphasized, which necessitates the management of stakeholders in volunteer projects. The purpose of the article is to research the processes and develop a mechanism for involving stakeholders of volunteer projects in decision-making to ensure the inclusive participation of representatives of various community interest groups. The object of the study is the process of stakeholder management in volunteer projects. The methodological basis of the research is logical methods of information processing, methods of analysis for stakeholder mapping, an abstract-logical method for formulating recommendations and conclusions. Presenting main material. The issue of involvement of interested parties in decision-making during the implementation of volunteer projects is considered. The definition and general characteristics of project stakeholders are given. The problem of low efficiency of interaction between community residents, authorities and volunteer project teams was studied. A stakeholder management mechanism for volunteer projects is proposed, which is based on the method of dividing stakeholders into groups depending on the degree of their interest and influence. Effective management of interested parties will make it possible to avoid misunderstandings and contradictions, improve the quality of the final product and contribute to the successful implementation of volunteer projects. The originality and practical significance of the study is confirmed by the possibility of using the proposed measures as a practical tool for managing stakeholders of volunteer projects. Conclusions and prospects for further research. The proposed stakeholder management mechanism of volunteer projects can be used for further improvement of co-creation processes in communities.

EUROPEAN UNION-UKRAINE AGRICULTURAL TRADE DURING THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR: A POLITICAL ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE

The article analyzes the consequences of the Russian armed invasion of Ukraine, initiated in February 2022, for the EU’s trade policy towards this country and for the changes in mutual foreign trade in agri-food goods due to its temporary, exceptional liberalization, with particular emphasis on the imports of these products into the EU. The study uses the political economy approach (including interest group theory) to explain the premises of the EU’s specific trade policy towards Ukraine and the crisis in mutual trade relations between Ukraine and its neighboring countries, caused by the excessive inflow of Ukrainian grain into their territories. Large agri-food corporations are identified as potential interest groups monopolizing economic power, influencing the use of agricultural land, the export of agricultural products, and Ukraine’s domestic and foreign policy. The measures of temporary liberalization of trade in agricultural products applied by the EU to Ukraine in response to the war situation resulted in a significant increase in their imports into the EU, while in the case of Poland its share in the volume of EU imports of sensitive products (wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower) in the 14 months since the beginning of the war was several to over a dozen times higher than in the 11 months preceding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Defining artificial intelligence as a policy problem: A discourse network analysis from Germany

AbstractScholars agree that digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) pose a political challenge. In this article, we study empirically how different actors in the German political system define AI as a policy problem. We use an original data set of 6421 statements by representatives of political parties, interest groups, scientific experts, and public officials in parliamentary debates, government consultations, and quality newspapers. Through Discourse Network Analysis and quantitative text analyses we show that most actors define AI as technology (innovation) policy and link it to government operations, international cooperation, and macroeconomics. Although they are present, consumer protection, labor, and education seem to be less important policy issues concerning AI. The results imply that the capacity of the national government to reduce problem definition uncertainty and to steer the political agenda is difficult and that most actors focus on technological innovation rather than civil rights‐related aspects.

Dynamics between Actors and Interest Groups in an Environmental Politics Perspective: Case Study of Food Estate Development in Kalimantan

This research is aimed at understanding the dynamics between actors in the national food barn project during the Joko Widodo administration in Central Kalimantan for the 2020-2023 period. Through qualitative research, the research focus was carried out by analyzing several indicators using actor and interest group theory from a political ecology perspective. This research reveals that the food estate policy carried out by the government in Central Kalimantan was carried out without clear regulations and was carried out haphazardly, the actors and interest groups involved, namely the government, the private sector, civil society alliances. Based on field findings, there is a relationship between the private sector and political elites who occupy positions in government. . This research reveals the pattern of relations between government and the private sector in implementing food estate policy and also the main issues at play. Meanwhile, civil society alliance groups act as opposing groups that play an important role as critics of this policy. There are two issues on the main agenda which are strong reasons for this group to have a different attitude to the 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.

The Influence of Non-State Actors in Climate Policymaking

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to explore the influence of non-state actors in climate policymaking.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the influence of non-state actors in climate policymaking. Preliminary empirical review revealed that non-state actors, including civil society organizations, corporations, cities, and transnational networks, exert considerable influence through various mechanisms such as advocacy, mobilization, technical expertise, and collaboration with governments. Their involvement is driven by diverse motivations, including environmental stewardship, economic interests, and the pursuit of social and ethical values. One key takeaway from this study is that non-state actors are not merely peripheral actors in the climate policy landscape; rather, they are central to the process of crafting effective climate policies. Their contributions span from raising public awareness and holding governments accountable to providing innovative solutions and pushing for ambitious climate targets. However, the extent of their influence can vary significantly depending on the specific context, the level of government involved, and the particular issue at hand.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Network Governance theory, Interest Group theory and the Policy Diffusion theory maybe used to anchor future studies on climate policymaking. Recommendations made from the study include the following: enhancing transparency and accountability, strengthening collaboration, promoting inclusivity, supporting capacity building and global knowledge sharing.

Contesting in the policy sphere: stakeholders and policy formulation on the lower Subansiri dam in the Northeast

ABSTRACT We advance a framework for analysis of democratic contestation in the policy and media spheres, in the context of the interest group theory and the stages of public policy evolution, to assess whether the contestation process favors some stakeholders over others in India, with a model that predicts pro- or anti-dam policy discourses in the news. There is evidence from participation in environmental movements, especially in the case of anti-dam protest groups, in the policy sphere that play a role in the contestation of scientific knowledge. Our core concern is to understand whether representation of the voices of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and protest groups in the news media affects public policy on controversial mega-projects such as the building of a mega-dam. Our focus is on the timely and critically important case of the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project (LSHEP), a mega-dam on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the highest earthquake zoned states through which runs the mighty Brahmaputra river. The mega-dam construction was suspended after widespread protests led by social and environmental activists in 2010–11. However, the construction resumed after the election of the BJP-led national government in 2014 and in the state of Assam in 2016. The revival precipitated a new phase of democratic contestation in the policy sphere in 2015–17 which is modeled here, based on content analysis of news reporting. We find that in the policy sphere, the voices of anti-dam activists did not succeed in fostering an anti-dam frame in the news media in the form of news stories opposing the dam.

“There is new technology here that can perform miracles”

Abstract This paper puts the spotlight on the discursive practices by which politicians, interest group representatives, and other influential public figures in effect promote climate inaction by conveying confidence in technological innovation. Data consist of policy debates on prominent public service television in Denmark. The study uses Discursive Psychology to examine how references to technological innovation are: (i) sequentially invoked as the solution to problematization of policies that allow high levels of emissions; (ii) grammatically designed to highlight the force of technological innovation; and (iii) rhetorically produced to support a subjective contrast between a pessimist and an optimist outlook. Overall, the study finds that invocation of technological optimism constitutes a ‘ready answer’ to communicative challenges that emerge during the debates, which effectively justifies inaction.

Political economy of financial development: empirical evidence from Ethiopia

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to examine the political economy of financial development in Ethiopia, specifically, to test the empirical relevance of the interest group theory of financial development in the context of Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approachThe autoregressive distributive lag model to co-integration is applied to Ethiopia’s time series data from 1990 to 2020 to identify the long- and short-run effects of the political regime characteristics on financial development of the country.FindingsThe findings reveal that the degree of democracy in the political system (a proxy for narrow elites) was found to have a significant positive effect on financial development in the long run but has negatively affected financial development in the short run. Similarly, the political regime durability indicator shows a positive and statistically significant effect both in the long run and short run. The macroeconomic policy indicators which are used as control variables in this study reveal significant effects on the financial development of Ethiopia. Generally, the finding supports the interest group theory of financial development.Originality/valueThis paper is the original work on the effect of political regime characteristics on financial development in Ethiopia. Thus, it brings substantial value to studying determinants of financial development as it goes beyond the conventional determinants by considering the role of political power in the process of financial development.

Personnel Problems in Domestic Science

The paper discusses the problems of scientific activity effectiveness, especially the quality of scientific personnel training, formation and maintenance of creative climate in research teams, and certification of scientific workers. The majority of the works devoted to the problems of domestic science development discuss the problems of low demand for the results of research and publication activity at the international level, aging of research teams and the problem of youth flow-in into science, material and financial support of scientific research, the structure of research and its compliance with the most demanded areas of knowledge and much more. Much less attention in the scientific literature is paid to the problem of the use of human capital in science, and usually the conclusions are reduced to the problem of insufficient funding of fundamental research. The article discusses the process of training of highly qualified researchers, argues that a special role in this is played by on-the-job training, justifies the need to create conditions for the flow of scientific personnel and extensive informal cooperation of scientists. It is shown from the standpoint of the theory of human capital and special interest groups that such mechanisms to a certain extent ensure the effectiveness of scientific research. Some decisions of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation regarding the stimulation of scientific research productivity are considered. It is shown that the approaches of the Ministry in this area are reduced to the orientation of scientists to achieve formal quantitative indicators, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the quality of R&D. Moreover, the focus on quantitative indicators leads to individualization of research work, reduction of incentives for creative communication and scientific criticism. Another problem is the formation of scientific nomenclature and the growing isolation of domestic science from the world. The tightening of criteria and the increasing complexity of scientific certification procedures on the basis of the same quantitative approaches and growing centralization in decision-making lead rather to the opposite result – the quality of researchers and the effectiveness of their work are declining. The general conclusion is that the domestic science needs actual decentralization both in the choice of research topics and in the personnel policy.

Models and Political Attitudes of Fundamentalist Groups in Indonesian Presidential Elections

Islamic fundamentalist groups played an important role in Indonesia's 2019 presidential election. They openly sided with the number 2 candidate, Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Solahudin Uno. Even today, the presidential election was marked by polarization and religious sentiments that are very strong and sharp. This study examined the model of presidential election contestation that will likely take place in 2024, the position of fundamentalist groups in political contestation, and its relation to religious polarization trends. This qualitative research used a case study approach to explore political models and attitudes in presidential election contestation. Interest group theory was placed to analyze the issue. The results showed that the map of contestation that will occur in 2024 will still be the same as the 2019 presidential election contestation. Second, the division between religious groups will still occur in the 2024 presidential election. Third, the alignment of religious fundamentalist groups in the 2024 presidential election will lead to figures willing and able to accommodate their groups.

Co-designing management recommendations with stakeholders: A case study about northern pike (Esox lucius) in the southern Baltic Sea

Involving all interest groups, often called stakeholders, is increasingly recognized as a key part of sustainable natural resource management, promoting acceptability and compliance with management decisions. However, there is the difficulty of how to build trust, integrate diverse knowledge bases and account for varying objectives of different stakeholders. We present insights from a fisheries stakeholder process that used structured decision making and participatory modelling in a workshop series over the course of three years to develop management advice for a northern pike (Esox lucius) meta-population inhibiting brackish lagoons of the southern Baltic Sea in Germany. The stock is co-exploited by commercial and recreational fisheries who are in conflict over space and fish and vary in values. We formed and professionally facilitated a stakeholder group composed of 15 representatives of all main interest groups. The workshops generated a shared vision and seven mutually agreed management objectives that combined aspects of biological, ecological, economic, and social sustainability. To meet objectives, the group identified more than 40 management options, revolving around stock monitoring, control and surveillance, knowledge transfer, harvest regulations, habitat management, predator control and pike stocking. Participatory model building provided forecasts on the impacts of selected management options, allowing to transparently examine trade-offs based on quantitative criteria matched to objectives. The process overall led to stakeholder consensus about multiple management tools that the group recommended to government officials for future management reform. Challenges remain as to the communication of irreducible ecological and social uncertainties associated with quantitative predictions. In this context, cognitive maps about cause-and-effect relationships affecting pike were found useful to integrate knowledge and remind about uncertainties. Our case study shows that stakeholder-inclusive approaches using structured decision making and participatory modelling with professional facilitation are time- and planning-intensive, but can promote common system understanding and development of mutually agreed management advice also in heterogeneous stakeholder groups that are often in severe conflict with each other.

Advocacy intelligence and competition: Assessing lobbyists' sharing of tactical knowledge in focus group interviews

AbstractAdvocacy intelligence is a critical organizational resource fostering long‐term survival and policy success. Policy‐active interest groups such as non‐profits, business associations and labor unions, seek to maintain their competitive advantage among peers and therefore have incentives to remain secretive about the details of their lobbying strategies and membership mobilization. We empirically evaluate this argument based on knowledge sharing interactions in 12 focus group interviews with approximately 50 representatives of interest groups in the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. Our research design manipulates the composition of the focus groups to vary the level of competition for political influence and membership among the participants. Strikingly, we find no evidence that either type of competition hampers knowledge sharing. Instead, our novel data point to three fruitful alternative explanations: the importance of socialization, mentorship and personalities of interest group leaders.

NextGenerationEU and the Future of the European Monetary Union: Shifting Interests and New Fractures in the German Power Bloc

AbstractBased on joint borrowing and a significant transfer component, NextGenerationEU stands in contrast to Germany's longstanding rejection of a ‘debt’ and ‘transfer union’. This article probes into the determinants of this shift in Germany's European policy approach. Focusing on the conflicts in Germany over the ‘deepening’ of the Monetary Union through fiscal capacity building between 2015 and 2020, it investigates which actors, interests and strategies instigated this shift. The analysis is based on trade and exchange rate data, a qualitative document analysis of position papers as well as expert interviews with interest group representatives, parliamentarians and civil servants. Theoretically, the study draws on concepts from regulation theory, materialist state theory and neo‐Gramscianism. It argues that even though not a fundamental paradigm shift, Germany's push for NextGenerationEU indicates a strategic re‐orientation of parts of the German power bloc towards European fiscal integration, amplified by recent geopolitical dynamics and crisis tendencies.

Decision‐makers, advisers or educable subjects? Policymakers' perceptions of citizen participation in a Nordic democracy

AbstractThe perceived disconnect between policymaking elites and citizens has intensified demands for citizen engagement in democracies, but we know little about policymakers' attitudes towards increased citizen involvement. This study presents an in‐depth, mixed‐methods analysis of participatory views of politicians, public officials, and interest group representatives in Finland. We first utilize a unique survey battery presented to representative samples of policymakers (n = 675) and ordinary citizens (n = 1701). We then perform a qualitative content analysis for 24 in‐depth interviews of high‐ranking policymakers to explore reasons for the observed attitudes. We find that while citizens strongly support participatory attitudes, policymakers are more skeptical, especially when participation threatens their control of the policy process. Elite skepticism stems mainly from low trust in citizens' capacity to deal with complexity, and to relieve the pressure to engage citizens more elites support learning‐based methods. The broad citizen‐elite attitude gap may require re‐negotiating representative mandates in the future.

Flying Without Instruments? The Deliberative Turn of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council

How does an established institution incorporate deliberation by randomly selected citizens? Can they deliberate on an equal footing with interest group representatives? How do the latter envision citizen participation? This article attempts to answer these questions by analysing the deliberative mini-public 'New Generations' set up by the French Economic Social and Environmental Council (ESEC) in 2020. A socio-economic consultative assembly, the ESEC was the subject of a legislative reform adopted in January 2021, which establishes the possibility for the Council to have randomly selected citizens deliberate alongside representatives of interest groups. Relying on semi-structured interviews (n = 15), surveys at multiple points in time (n = 190), direct observation (11 days) and content analysis, we illustrate the limits of the integration of citizen deliberation within the ESEC. Articulating a longitudinal macro perspective (on the institutional and legislative transformations of the Council) with a sociological microanalysis (of the 'New Generations' experiment) allows us to underline that in the current implementation of citizens' participation in the ESEC, the institution seems to be 'flying without instruments'. Indeed, with few references to legal frameworks or scientific guidelines, the Council relies mainly on private consultants to implement deliberative practices. We thus worry that within the current political context, citizen deliberation is on its way to become an ad hoc resource, used by interest groups and institutions to defend their causes in the public sphere, but not leading to a direct implication of citizens in the decision-making process. 

Police unions and use‐of‐force reforms in American cities

AbstractFollowing the murder of George Floyd, there was widespread debate about the policies that govern the use of force by police, but municipal leaders suggested that police unions kept many of the proposed changes from being adopted. Although there is anecdotal and scholarly evidence that unions frequently oppose policing reform, the limited literature in this area actually offers somewhat mixed conclusions about the relationship between union strength and the success of previous reform efforts. In this study, we draw on Halpin's theory of interest groups as politically adaptive organizations to develop expectations about the behavior of police unions in police governance subsystems. We hypothesize that union attempts to influence policy will correlate positively with reform adoption when the political environment is conducive to victory on that front or makes the cost of opposition too high and negatively when the opposite conditions hold. Analyses of the impact of union campaign contributions on the adoption of use‐of‐force policies in the 100 largest U.S. cities demonstrate that the nature and direction of union influence are moderated by the political climate of the jurisdiction in which they operate.

A Theory of Professional Interest Groups in Nigerian Politics

ABSTRACT Professional or industry-based interest groups have long been a feature of the Nigerian political landscape. Nevertheless, studies of these interest groups in Nigerian politics have largely privileged the analysis of individual groups or considered their collective role in the democratic transition of the 1990s. By returning the scholarly focus to their raison d’être, namely, their shared economic concerns, this article offers a comprehensive theory of interest groups in Nigerian politics. This novel theory posits that federal-level interest groups draw their membership from across Nigeria’s diverse ethnic, regional, and class constituencies due to their common economic concerns. Moreover, these groups actively lobby the federal government in pursuit of their economic advantage, often in direct competition with each other. Neither aloof from nor coopted by the state, the most prominent interest groups in Nigeria enjoy formalized positions within the bureaucracy from which to exert their influence and pursue the unique interests of their members. To develop this theory, this article employs new data and documents on the lobbying efforts of interest groups during the reform process of corporate law in Nigeria across a thirty-year period. Elite interviews, previously unpublished documents, and archival legal documents evidence their lobbying efforts. Examining the reform of corporate law across Nigeria’s later military regimes and the democratic Fourth Republic (1999–present) demonstrates the relevance of this theory of interest groups for both historical and contemporary understandings of Nigerian politics.

Legislative Transparency in the European Parliament: Disclosing Legislators' Meetings with Interest Groups

AbstractResearch on transparency in the EU and at the European Parliament, in particular, has extensively examined the adoption and implementation of transparency initiatives as well as the conditions under which interest groups have access to and influence on EU policy‐making. However, the question of whether Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are transparent regarding their interactions with interest group representatives has been overlooked by the literature. This study addresses the question of the conditions under which MEPs are more likely to provide information about their meetings with interest groups. The study engages with institutional theory by emphasizing that formal and informal rules incentivize MEPs' behaviour. Drawing on a dataset on MEPs' reports on their meetings with interest group representatives, the study demonstrates that procedural rules, party's position on the cultural dimension and the national corruption tradition affect legislators' propensity to disclose information about their meetings with interest groups.