Abstract
This chapter primarily analyzes the differences in strategies for inside lobbying (i.e. direct interactions with policy-makers or participation in policy consultations) between business and non-business organizations in the studied countries in a comparative perspective. The existing research on Western Democracies concludes that interest organizations can pursue their political goals in multiple institutional venues and that business groups rely to a higher degree on inside lobbying, while citizens groups spend more time on outside lobbying (e.g. public campaigns, media interactions). The argument is that this is caused by business groups’ larger resources (staff and budget) and technical knowledge, which is favourably received by policy-makers. This chapter explores if this is the case in the post-Communist environment in three CEE countries as exemplary case studies. We begin, first, with a data-driven snapshot view of interest group venue shopping in the studied CEE countries, then follow with a more detailed look into the differences in strategies for inside lobbying and finally conclude with the analysis of access goods that help interest groups to reach decision-makers and to influence public policy. The results indicate that lobbying is mostly concentrated on the government and national ministries, whereas parliamentary actors are usually bypassed by both types of organizations, interestingly omitting interactions with directly elected representatives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Allern, E. H., & Bale, T. (2012). Political Parties and Interest Groups: Disentangling Complex Relationships. Party Politics, 18(1), 7–25.
Auers, D. (2015). Comparative Politics and Government of the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the 21st Century. Houndmills and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Berger, S. (1981). Introduction. In S. Berger (Ed.), Organizing Interests in Western Europe: Pluralism, Corporatism, and the Transformation of Politics (pp. 1–23). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beyers, J. (2004). Voice and Access: Political Practices of European Interest Associations. European Union Politics, 5, 211–240.
Beyers, J., Bernhagen, P., Borang, F., Braun, C., Fink-Hafner, D., Heylen, F., et al. (2016). Comparative Interest Group Survey Questionnaire (January 2016 ed.). Antwerp: University of Antwerp.
Binderkrantz, A. (2005). Interest Group Strategies: Navigating Between Privileged Access and Strategies of Pressure. Political Studies, 53, 694–715.
Binderkrantz, A. S. (2014). Legislatures, Lobbying, and Interest Groups. In S. Martin, T. Saalfeld & K. W. Strøm (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 526–542.
Binderkrantz, A. S., & Christiansen, P. M. (2011, June 20–22). Making It to the News: Interest Groups in the Media. Paper prepared for: The Eighteenth International Conference of Europeanists. Barcelona, Spain.
Binderkrantz, A. S., Christiansen, P. M., & Pedersen, H. H. (2014). Interest Group Access to the Bureaucracy, Parliament, and the Media. Governance, 28(1), 95–112.
Bouwen, P. (2004). Exchanging Access Goods for Access: A Comparative Study of Business Lobbying in the EU Institutions. European Journal of Political Research, 43(3), 337–369.
Braun, C. (2012). The Captive of the Broker? Explaining Public Agency-Interest Group Interactions. Governance, 25(2), 291–314.
Caramani, D. (Ed.). (2014). Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chalmers, A. (2011). Interests, Influence and Information: Comparing the Influence of Interest Groups in the European Union. Journal of European Integration, 33(4), 471–486.
Chalmers, A. (2013). Trading Information for Access: Informational Lobbying Strategies and Interest Group Access to the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 20(1), 39–58.
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA, and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (1999). Social Movements: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Dür, A. (2008). Interest Groups in the European Union: How Powerful Are They? West European Politics, 31(6), 1212–1230.
Dür, A., Bernhagen, P. Marshall, D. (2015). Interest Group Success in the European Union: When (and Why) Does Business Lose? Comparative Political Studies, 48(8), 951–983.
Dür, A., & Matteo, G. (2012). Who lobbies the European Union? National interest groups in a multilevel polity. Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 19, 969–987.
Dür, A., & Mateo, G. (2013). Gaining Access or Going Public? Interest Group Strategies in Five European Countries. European Journal of Political Research, 52(5), 660–686.
Dür, A., & Mateo, G. (2016). Insiders Versus Outsiders: Interest Group Politics in Multilevel Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Duverger, M. (1954). Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. New York: Wiley.
Eising, R. (2007). Institutional Context, Organizational Resources and Strategic Choices. Explaining Interest Group Access in the European Union. European Union Politics, 8(3), 329–362.
Eising, R. (2009). The Political Economy of State-Business Relations in Europe. Interest Mediation, Capitalism and EU Policy-making. Routledge: London.
Eising, R., & Spohr, F. (2017). The More, the Merrier? Interest Groups and Legislative Change in the Public Hearings of the German Parliamentary Committees. German Politics, 26(2), 314–333.
Fraussen, B., Beyers, J., Donas, T. (2015). The Expanding Core and Varying Degrees of Insiderness: Institutionalized Interest Group Involvement through Advisory Councils. Political Studies, 63(3), 569–88.
Gais, T. L., & Walker Jr, J. L. (1991). Pathways to Influence in American Politics. In L. J. Walker, Jr (Ed.), Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions and Social Movements. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Grant, W. (2004). Pressure Politics: The Changing World of Pressure Groups. Parliamentary Affairs, 57(2), 408–19.
Hague, R., & Harrop, M. (2004). Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction (6th ed.). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hanegraaff, M., Beyers, J., & De Bruycker, I. (2016). Balancing Inside and Outside Lobbying: The Political Strategies of Lobbyists at Global Diplomatic Conferences. European Journal of Political Research, 55(3), 568–588.
Heaney, M. T., & Strickland, J. M. (2016). A Networks Approach to Interest Group Politics. In J. N. Victor, M. N. Lubell, & A. H. Montgomery (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Networks. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jordan, G., & Halpin, D. (2003). Cultivating Small Business Influence in the UK: The Federation of Small Businesses’ Journey from Outsider to Insider. Journal of Public Affairs, 3(4), 313–325.
Katz, R. S., & Mair, P. (1995). Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy. Party Politics, 1, 5–28.
Klüver, H. (2013). Lobbying in the European Union: Interest Groups, Lobbying Coalitions and Policy Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Knoke, D., Pappi, F. U., Broadbent, J., Tsujinaka, Y., (1996). Comparing Policy Networks – Labor Politics in the U.S., Germany, and Japan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kollman, K. (1998). Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kriesi, H., Tresch, A., & Jochum, M. (2007). Going Public in the European Union. Action Repertoires of Western European Collective Political Actors. Comparative Political Studies, 40(1), 48–73.
Krupavičius, A. (1999). Interesų grupės: sandara, klasifikacija ir efektyvumas (pp. 155–175). Technologija: Šiuolaikinė valstybė. Kaunas.
Leifeld, P., & Schneider, V. (2012). Information Exchange in Policy Networks. American Journal of Political Science, 53(3), 731–744.
Magone, J. M. (2011). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Mahoney, C. (2008). Brussels Versus the Beltway. Advocacy in the United States and the European Union. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Michalowitz, I. (2007) ‘What Determines Influence? Assessing Conditions for Decision-Making Influence of Interest Groups in the EU’. Journal of European Public Policy, 14(1), 132–51.
Molina, O., & Rhodes, M. (2002). Corporatism: The Past, Present, and Future of a Concept. Annual Review of Political Science, 5, 305–331.
Otjes, S., & Rasmussen, A. (2015). Collaboration Between Interest Groups and Political Parties in Multi-party Democracies: Party System Dynamics and the Effect of Power and Ideology. Party Politics, 23(2), 96–109.
Rasmussen, A., & Lindeboom, G. (2013). Interest Group-party Linkage in the Twenty-First Century: Evidence from Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. European Journal of Political Research, 52, 264–289.
Rose, R., & Munro, N. (2003). Elections and Parties in New European Democra-cies. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
Salisbury, R. H. (1969). The Exchange Theory of Interest Groups. Midwest Journal of Political Science, 13(1), 1–32.
Schattschneider, E. E. (1960). The Semisovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Schmitter P. C., & Streeck, W. (1999). The Organization of Business Interests: Studying the Associative Action of Business in Advanced Industrial Societies (MPIfG Discussion Paper, 99/1).
Waller, M. (1994). Political Actors and Political Roles in East-Central Europe. In M. Waller & M. Myant (Eds.), Parties (pp. 21–37). Frank Cass: Trade Unions and Society in East-Central Europe.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rozbicka, P., Kamiński, P., Novak, M., Jankauskaitė, V. (2021). Seeking Access to Policy Stakeholders: Business ‘Lobbying’ vs Others. In: Achieving Democracy Through Interest Representation. Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55521-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55521-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55520-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55521-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)