Interest Groups (American Politics)

Social Irresponsibility in Management

by J Armstrong

Previously published research suggested that the typical manager may be expected to harm others in his role as a... more Previously published research suggested that the typical manager may be expected to harm others in his role as a manager. Further support for this was drawn from the Panalba role-playing case. None of the 57 control groups in this case were willing to remove a dangerous drug from the market. In fact, 79% of these groups took active steps to prevent its removal. This decision was classified as irresponsible by 97% of the respondents to a questionnaire. Because the role exerts such powerful effects, an attempt was made to modify subject’s perceptions of their role so that managers would feel responsible to all of the firm’s interest groups. Some subjects were told that board members should represent all interest groups; other subjects were placed on boards of directors where the different groups were represented. Subjects in both groups also received information on the impact of the decisions upon stockholders, employees, and customers. The percentage of irresponsible decisions was reduced under these conditions as only 22% of the 116 groups selected the highly irresponsible decision.

Interest Associations

by Roland Erne

Erne, R. 2011. ‘Interest Associations” in: D. Caramani, Comparative Politics, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 259- 274.

Interests play an important role in all modern political systems. But the forms in which interests are articulated... more Interests play an important role in all modern political systems. But the forms in which interests are articulated very much depend on the context of the particular case. Accordingly, this chapter reviews at the outset various definitions of interest associations that have been used by comparativists across the globe. Comparative studies of interest associations have also been inspired by different theories of interest politics. Therefore, the chapter also includes a review of the origins and legacies of competing theoretical traditions in the field, namely republicanism, pluralism, and neo-corporatism. At last, the final sections of the chapter discuss the role of interest associations in practice, distinguishing different types of action that are available to different interest associations, namely direct lobbying, political exchange, contentious politics, and private interest government.

Policy Issues, Organizational Format and the Political Strategies of Interest Organizations

by Jan Beyers

published in West European Politics, 2008

Contemporaneously, the study of EU lobbying appears somewhat disconnected from other sub-areas within the study of... more Contemporaneously, the study of EU lobbying appears somewhat disconnected from other sub-areas within the study of EU-politics. Research tends to be focused on single issues – either particularistic or directional – and concentrates on communicative interaction modes that emphasize network governance, ignoring the electoral side of politics. This essay’s main objective is to make the politics component of interest group politics more intelligible. The core argument is that interest groups strategies, as well as potential influence, are not adequately explained by resources only. In response to this, a framework is built that links different interaction modes (arguing, bargaining and voting) with political strategies (inside and outside), organizational formats and the nature of political issues.

Researching interest group politics in Europe and elsewhere: much we study, little we know?

by Jan Beyers

co-authored with Rainer Eising and William Maloney, published in West European Politics, 2008

Interest Groups and Social Movements

by Ondrej Cisar

by O. Císař. In: Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, eds. David Snow, Donatella della Porta, Bert Klandermans a Doug McAdam. London: Blackwell (forthcoming).

All is Not Fair: The Effects of Changing Committee Representation on Partisan Conflict in Transforming Legislatures

by Bruce Anderson

Katzensteins småstatskorporatisme

by Øyvind Kalnes

Paper for seminar Lov og struktur, University of Bergen 1995.

Demokratisk korporatisme er fellesnevneren for en av de mest sentrale forskningstradisjonene innenfor nyere... more Demokratisk korporatisme er fellesnevneren for en av de mest sentrale forskningstradisjonene innenfor nyere statsvitenskap. Grovt sagt viser begrepet til framveksten av sterke interesseorganisasjoner som systematisk integreres som aktive deltakere i utformingen og iverksettingen av den offentlige politikk. Peter J. Katzenstein
lanserte i boken Small States in World Markets (1985) en tese som satte utviklingen - og konsekvensene - av demokratisk korporatisme i sammenheng med statens forhold til de internasjonale omgivelsene og dens størrelse, direkte og indirekt.

From Protests to Litigation to YouTube: A Longitudinal Case Study of Strategic Lobby Tactic Choice for the Buffalo Field Campaign

by Mark McBeth

Co-authored with Elizabeth A. Shanahan, Linda E. Tigert, and Paul L. Hathaway

The interest group literature has long explored under what circumstances interest groups choose lobby tactics to... more The interest group literature has long explored under what circumstances interest groups choose lobby tactics to influence policy. While most studies focus on well-funded national interest groups, this study uses a newly formed interest group (Buffalo Field Campaign or BFC) in order to qualitatively analyze changes in lobby tactic choice from its inception and empirically assess these changes with traditional measures of lobby choice. Additionally, this study employs an innovative methodology by proposing a new typology of lobby strategy and using the interest group’s political narratives as the data source. Thus, the research questions addressed in this study are: (1) does the BFC evolve over a ten year period in terms of lobby typologies and if so, how?; (2) qualitatively, what are these lobby activities?; and (3) how does choice of lobby typology relate to age of the group, issue saliency, financial resources, and external political context? The results indicate that Buffalo Field Campaign has gone through three distinct lobbying stages over the past 10 years, from indirect-unconventional to direct-conventional to indirect-conventional. Significantly correlated with these stages are age, financial resources, and governing coalition; interestingly, there are no statistically significant associations between lobby tactic choice and issue salience or external political context measured in the number of bison deaths. The implications of the findings for the study of other interest groups are explored.
Suggested Citation

Elizabeth A. Shanahan, Mark K. McBeth, Linda Tigert, and Paul L. Hathaway. "From Protests to Litigation to YouTube: A Longitudinal Case Study of Strategic Lobby Tactic Choice for the Buffalo Field Campaign." Social Science Journal 47.1 (2010): 137-150.