scholarly journals United in fear: Interest group coalition formation as a weapon of the weak?

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Hanegraaff ◽  
Andrea Pritoni
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
The European Union

Although many interest groups work together perpetually, most academic studies agree that coalition formation does not lead to more influence. In this article, we try to explain these puzzling findings. While former research generally tends to frame the decision of forming an interest group coalition as a strength, in this paper, we argue that coalition building should be considered as a ‘weapon of the weak’. Interest groups fearing that they are insufficiently influential, and whose very existence as an organisation is at risk, are more likely to coalesce. This theoretical framework is tested on a sample of around 3000 interest groups in six European countries – Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden – and the European Union. Empirical findings clearly demonstrate that perceived fears – oriented towards both organisational survival and policy influence – have an effect on how likely it is that an interest group will decide to build a coalition.

Comparison of Reliability in Seventeen European Countries Using the Quasi-Simplex Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 383-404
Author(s):  
Johana Chylíková
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Reliability Estimation ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Regions ◽  
Financial Situation ◽  
Reliability Estimates ◽  
Simplex Model

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the application of the quasi-simplex model (QSM) for reliability estimation in longitudinal data and to employ it to obtain information about the reliability of the European Union—Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data collected between 2012 and 2017. Reliability of two survey questions is analysed: one which asks respondents about the financial situation in their households, and one which requests information about respondents’ health. Employing the QSM on the two items resulted in 80 reliability estimates from 17 and 11 European countries, respectively. Results revealed statistically significant differences in reliability between post-communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the rest of Europe, and similar patterns of the size of reliability estimates were observed for both items. The highest reliability (i.e. reliability over 0.8) was observed in CEE countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary. The lowest reliability (i.e. reliability lower than 0.7) was observed for data from Sweden, Slovenia, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands. The remarkable variation in longitudinal reliability across culturally and historically different European regions is discussed both from substantive and methodological perspectives.

14. Interest Groups and the European Union

2019 ◽  
pp. 201-218
Author(s):  
Rainer Eising
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Group System ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Group Structures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the role of interest groups in European Union (EU) politics. It also considers the way in which the EU institutions influence interest group structures and activities. The chapter begins with an overview of the relationship between the EU institutions and interest groups and examines the steps taken thus far to regulate that relationship. It then looks at the evolution and the structure of the interest group system, focusing in particular on two salient aspects: the difference between national and EU organizations; and the difference between specific and diffuse interests.

Why the European Union is not Delivering. An Essay on the Role of Diversity

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjen Van Witteloostuijn
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Euro Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Clear Cases ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) has suffered from fall-out recently. Clear cases in point were the anti-EU outcomes of the referenda in France and the Netherlands, as well as the messy process in response to the Euro crisis. More broadly, recent elections in many European countries have resulted in winning parties that advertise an explicit anti-EU sentiment, often linked to an equally explicit anti-immigrant stance. Apparently, in the eyes of many, the EU is not delivering – quite to the contrary. In this essay, insights from a variety of social sciences will be reviewed that may shed light on this issue, with a focus on the role of a multidimensional conception of diversity.

scholarly journals Tendencias privatizadoras del modelo de financiación de la educación superior en Europa. Propuestas de la Unión Europea y el análisis del acceso asequible.

2020 ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Alexandra Carrasco González
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
At Risk ◽  
European Union ◽  
Comparative Education ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Private Financing

The influence exerted by supranational organizations, such as the European Union (EU) in the configuration of educational policies, forces us to include the supranational sphere in the study of educational trends. A growing trend in the field of higher education is the increase in private investment and our objective is to measure its impact in recent years in the European context and if it puts at risk the affordable access to this educational level. To do this, in the first place, we analyze the different actions developed from the European Union on increasing private financing of higher education through various documents and work plans. Second, from the Comparative Education methodology, we compare the variation in the sources of financing for higher education in European countries, over a 13-year trajectory (2002-2016), and its impact on affordable access to education higher, through the analysis of economic rates and student aid systems. The results, on the one hand, indicate that the EU justifies the increase in private financing of universities, as a global strategy to achieve greater competitiveness within the context of the knowledge society. On the other hand, there is a trend towards the privatization of financing models for higher education in European countries, which countries such as Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal, put at risk the affordable access to HE.

scholarly journals More Gender Equality, More Homogamy? A Cohort Comparison in Six European Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-480
Author(s):  
Julie Falcon ◽  
Dominique Joye
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Educational Homogamy ◽  
The United Kingdom

Abstract We study whether educational homogamy has increased following the rise of women’s educational attainment and of egalitarian couples in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. From the analysis of data from the European Union and Swiss Labour Force Surveys over a 15-year period (1999–2013), we observe that educational homogamy did not increase across cohorts, although we find substantial differences in the degree of homogamy according to couple arrangements.

Dialectical functionalism: stagnation as a booster of European integration

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorette Corbey
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Stop And Go ◽  
The Eu

Theories of integration fail to explain the stop-and-go nature of European integration. This failures stems from their one-sided attention to either the member states or the institutions of the European Union (EU). The process of integration is best described as one of action and reaction, involving the institutions of the EU, member states, and interest groups. Governments respond to European integration in one policy area by intervening more in adjacent areas, thus inducing policy competition between national states. When their rivalry becomes counterproductive, member states will be motivated to take new steps toward further integration. This interpretation explains the stop-and-go rhythm of European integration and results in a new theoretical framework termed ‘dialectical functionalism.’

13. Interest Groups and the European Union

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Eising
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Group Structures ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the role of interest groups in European Union politics. The formation and behaviour of interest groups are influenced by the political opportunity structure formed by the EU and other political institutions. The EU's institutional setting (its dynamic political agenda, its complexity and multilevel character, and its reliance on consensus) shapes the interest group system and interest mediation within the EU. After providing an overview of the relationship between EU institutions and interest groups, the chapter considers how the EU institutions influence interest group structures and activities. In particular, it describes the difference between national and EU organizations, and between business and diffuse interests. It also discusses the Europeanization of interest mediation and how EU membership may have altered the structures and activities of domestic interest groups.

scholarly journals HAVING A SECOND CHILD AND ACCESS TO CHILDCARE: EVIDENCE FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hippolyte d’Albis ◽  
Paula E. Gobbi ◽  
Angela Greulich
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Second Child ◽  
Subsidized Childcare

AbstractThis paper shows that differences in fertility across European countries mainly emerge due to fewer women having two children in low-fertility countries. It further suggests that childcare services are an important determinant for the transition to a second child to occur. The theoretical framework we propose suggests that (i) in countries where childcare coverage is low, there is a U-shaped relationship between a couple’s probability of having a second child and the woman’s potential wage, whereas (ii) in countries with easy access to childcare, this probability is positively related with the woman’s potential wage. Data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) confirm these implications when estimating a woman’s probability of having a second child as a function of education. This implies that middle-income women are the most affected ones by the lack of access to formal and subsidized childcare.

scholarly journals Revisiting poverty measures towards individualisation

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danièle Meulders ◽  
Síle O’Dorchai
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Poverty Measures ◽  
Financial Dependency

We use the methodology developed in a previous study to individualise all incomes reported in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (2006). Based on individual incomes we compute financial-dependency rates which are compared with the household-level at-risk-of-poverty rates defined by the European Commission. The determinants of financial dependency are studied by means of descriptive statistics and by the estimation of bivariate probit regressions for men and women. We cover nine European countries. Finally, four new indicators are proposed to complement the Laeken indicators.

Is er een Europese arbeidsmarkt voor topmanagers?

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kees van Veen ◽  
Ilse Marsman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Market Segment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Country Characteristics ◽  
Management Positions

An European labour market for top managers? An European labour market for top managers? In this article, we study the extent to which the labour market for top managers in the European Union is internationalizing. Does this small but important labour market segment have an international and open character? Based on data of 2,229 managers in 363 companies in 15 European countries, we conclude that in 2005 this segment is only marginally international. Only 14.9% of the top management positions in the companies we studied is occupied by managers from another country. Between the countries we found large differences with an interesting role for the Netherlands. Differences between countries seem to be the result of differences in selection and allocation processes within individual countries, and much less of company and country characteristics.

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