The Power of the Party: Conflict Expansion and the Agenda Diversity of Interest Groups

2019 ◽  
pp. 106591291986714 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Fagan ◽  
Zachary A. McGee ◽  
Herschel F. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Policy Conflicts ◽  
Policy Content ◽  
Conflict Expansion

To what extent do political parties have an effect on the policy-related activity of interest groups? Drawing from ideas of conflict expansion and the structure of extended party networks, we argue that political parties are able to pull interest groups into more policy conflicts than they otherwise would be involved in. We posit that parties are able to draw interest groups to be active outside of established issue niches. We suggest that several mechanisms—shared partisan electoral incentives, reciprocity, identification with the means, and cue-taking behavior—lead groups to participate in more diverse political conflicts. By linking data on interest group bill positions and the policy content of legislation, we generate a novel measure of 158 interest groups’ alignment with political parties. We find that the more an interest group is ideologically aligned with a political party, the more diverse their issue agenda becomes.

scholarly journals The contingent character of interest groups–political parties’ interaction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Laura Chaqués-Bonafont ◽  
Camilo Cristancho ◽  
Luz Muñoz-Márquez ◽  
Leire Rincón
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Western Democracies

Abstract This article examines the conditions under which interest groups interact with political parties. Existing research finds that interest group–political party interactions in most western democracies have become more open and contingent over time. The close ideological and formal organisational ties that once characterised these relations have gradually been replaced by alternative, more pragmatic forms of cooperation. However, most of this research stresses the importance of the structural factors underpinning these links over time and across countries, but sheds little light on the factors driving short-term interest group–party interactions. Here, by drawing on survey data on Spanish interest groups obtained between December 2016 and May 2017, this article seeks to fill this gap by taking into account party status, issue salience and a group’s resources as explanatory variables. It shows that mainstream parties are the primary targets of interest groups, that groups dealing with salient issues are more likely to contact political parties and that the groups with most resources interact with a larger number of parties.

Federalism and American Political Development

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brian Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
American Political Development ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Market Driven

Federalism has influenced American political development deeply because it has been used as a powerful, enduring weapon in battles over politics and policy. The Constitution authorized the national government to exercise the tools of national sovereignty, but authorized the states to govern most of everyday life. This constitutional arrangement has encouraged interstate competition and market-driven economic growth, while it has impeded policies aimed at mitigating economic hardship and inequality. Federalism encouraged fragmented political parties and a pluralistic interest group system, splintering both organized business and trade unions and thus many political conflicts. State policy initiation has left domestic policy profoundly fragmented and unequal. Decentralized power allowed states to implement separate and inferior citizenship rights for different categories of citizens, most prominently, racial minorities and women. In turn, state laws and their legacy frequently shape national efforts to mitigate these inequalities.

4. Neo-functionalism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Strøby Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Functionalist Theory ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Supranational Institutions ◽  
Spillover Hypothesis

This chapter examines the main assumptions of neo-functionalism, especially with regards to European integration. The fundamental argument of neo-functionalists is that states are not the only important actors on the international scene. They claim that supranational institutions and non-state actors, such as interest groups and political parties, are the real driving force behind integration efforts. The chapter first provides an overview of the main features of neo-functionalist theory and its historical development since the 1950s before discussing three hypotheses advanced by neo-functionalists: the spillover hypothesis, the elite socialization hypothesis, and the supranational interest group hypothesis. After explaining the concepts of supranationalism and spillover, the chapter considers the main critiques of neo-functionalist theory. It concludes by describing the revival of interest in neo-functionalism and giving some examples that illustrate how today's neo-functionalists differ from those of the 1950s.

10. Political Parties

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ferdinand
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Different Types

This chapter deals with political parties: why they emerged, how they can be classified, what functions they perform, how they interact, and what challenges they are facing today. One of the paradoxes about democracies is that there is almost a unanimous consensus about the indispensability of political parties. On the other hand, the benefits of being a member of a political party are bound to be minuscule compared to the costs of membership. Thus it is irrational for people to join parties. They should only form (small) interest groups. The chapter first provides a historical background on the development of political parties before discussing their functions, such as legitimation of the political system, structuring the popular vote, and formulation of public policy. It then considers different types of political parties as well as the characteristics of party systems and concludes with an analysis of the problems facing political parties today.

12. Political Parties

2020 ◽  
pp. 266-286
Author(s):  
Peter Ferdinand
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
Popular Vote

This chapter deals with political parties: why they emerged, how they can be classified, what functions they perform, how they interact, and what challenges they are facing today. One of the paradoxes about democracies is that there is almost a unanimous consensus about the indispensability of political parties. On the other hand, the benefits of being a member of a political party are bound to be minuscule compared to the costs of membership. Thus it is irrational for people to join parties. They should only form (small) interest groups. The chapter first provides a historical background on the development of political parties before discussing their functions, such as legitimation of the political system, structuring the popular vote, and formulation of public policy. It then considers different types of political parties as well as the characteristics of party systems and concludes with an analysis of the problems facing political parties today.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing and measuring party-interest group relationships

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406882094939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Haugsgjerd Allern ◽  
Simon Otjes ◽  
Thomas Poguntke ◽  
Vibeke Wøien Hansen ◽  
Sabine Saurugger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Scaling Analysis ◽  
Group Relationships ◽  
Organizational Ties ◽  
Party Group

Relationships between political parties and interest groups form structures that enable and constrain political action. Yet there is a lack of consensus on what ‘party-group relationships’ means. We propose a conceptualization focusing on ties as means for structured interaction, which is different from sharing or transfer of resources and ideological kinship. Our conceptual discussion suggests that organizational ties form a single yet hierarchical scale of strength: groups that have many formal ties with particular parties would also have weaker ties with these parties, but not vice versa. To validate our conceptual map, we furthermore check whether the distinction between organizational ties, resource sharing/provision and ideological kinship holds empirically. We explore our expectations by means of novel interest group survey data from seven mature democracies. The results of our scaling analysis provide support for our predictions and have multiple implications for future research on the causes and effects of party-group relationships.

Setting the Party Agenda: Interest Groups, Voters and Issue Attention

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 979-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Klüver
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Campaign Contributions ◽  
Information Campaign ◽  
Voter Preferences ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Issue Attention ◽  
Group Mobilization ◽  
Policy Agendas

Do political parties respond to interest group mobilization? While party responsiveness to voters has received widespread attention, little is known about how interest groups affect parties’ policy agendas. I argue that political parties respond to interest groups as lobbyists offer valuable information, campaign contributions, electoral support and personal rewards, but that party responsiveness is conditioned by voter preferences. Based on a novel longitudinal analysis studying the responsiveness of German parties to interest groups across eleven issue areas and seven elections from 1987 until 2009, it is shown that parties adjust their policy agendas in response to interest group mobilization and that interest groups are more successful in shaping party policy when their priorities coincide with those of the electorate.

scholarly journals The psychology and neuroscience of partisanship

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ann Harris ◽  
Philip Pärnamets ◽  
Anni Sternisko ◽  
Claire Robertson ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Intergroup Threat ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Policy Content

Why have citizens become increasingly polarized? The answer is that there is increasing identification with political parties —a process known as partisanship (Mason, 2018). This chapter will focus on the role that social identity plays in contemporary politics (Greene, 2002). These party identities influence political preferences, such that partisans are more likely to agree with policies that were endorsed by their political party, regardless of the policy content, and, in some cases, their own ideological beliefs (Cohen, 2003; Samuels & Zucco Jr, 2014). There are many social and structural factors that are related to partisanship, including polarization (Lupu, 2015), intergroup threat (e.g., Craig & Richeson, 2014), and media exposure (Tucker et al., 2018; Barberá, 2015). Our chapter will focus on the psychology and neuroscience of partisanship within these broader socio-political contexts. This will help reveal the roots of partisanship across political contexts.

scholarly journals When do political parties prioritize labour? Issue attention between party competition and interest group power

2019 ◽  
pp. 135406881987560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Otjes ◽  
Christoffer Green-Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Election Manifestos ◽  
Issue Attention ◽  
Project Data

This article analyses the conditions under which political parties spend attention to labour issues. This article compares the dominant partisan perspective, which proposes that attention to issues is shaped by party competition, to an interest group perspective, which proposes that strong interest groups, in particular when their power is institutionalized in corporatist systems, can force parties to spend attention to their issue. We use the Comparative Agenda Project data set of election manifestos to examine these patterns in seven West-European countries and corroborate our findings in the Comparative Manifesto Project data set for 25 countries. The evidence supports the interest group perspective over the partisan perspective. This shows that the study of party attention to issues should not isolate party competition from the influence of other political actors.

Interest Group and Political Party Influence on Growth in State Spending and Debt

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Holyoke ◽  
Jeff Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
State Government ◽  
The Political ◽  
Business Sector ◽  
State Spending ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
State Budgets ◽  
Social Sectors

Does more lobbying by more interest groups, especially groups representing a state’s largest business sector, lead to greater spending and debt? Or does the blame really rest with state lawmakers and their political parties, which compete to attract and retain the allegiance of these powerful organized interests so they can win control of state government? We test this question with data on annual state budgets from 2006 to 2015, the number of interest groups in each state for those years, the size of the constituencies in different economic and social sectors these groups potentially represent, and the degree of competition between the political parties. Our results reveal that while there is a positive interest group effect on spending, the effect becomes negative as parties compete more for control of the state. As the gatekeepers, lawmakers and their parties, more than interest groups, are ultimately responsible for a state’s fiscal condition.

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