Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T03:42:27.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Standing Alone? Towards a More Unified View of Party–Group Relations in Contemporary Democracies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Marco Lisi  and
Rui Oliveira
Marco Lisi
Affiliation:
Department of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and IPRI-NOVA, Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal), Av. de Berna, 26-C, Lisbon, 1069-061, Portugal. Email: [email protected]
Rui Oliveira
Affiliation:
Department of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and IPRI-NOVA, Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal), Av. de Berna, 26-C, Lisbon, 1069-061, Portugal. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship between political parties and interest groups in contemporary democracies. Although this is a key topic for assessing the evolution of representative political systems and the quality of democracies, the theoretical and empirical studies have not developed a cumulative body of knowledge. As well as the lack of an integrated perspective, we argue that the literature on this topic has remained conceptually fuzzy and has failed to elaborate a common approach to examine how parties and interest organisations interact. Although some researchers point to a weakening of relations between parties and interest groups, the most current data point not to disappearance but to a change in the way both political actors interact. This article contributes to updating the research on the topic and also sheds light on why the literature has remained segmented. The study shows that the variety of conceptualisations, approaches and typologies has led to incongruent – and often non-comparable – results. The final section identifies a number of research gaps and suggest new topics and approaches that can unify this object of study in the near future.

Type
Review Essay
Information
European Review , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 58 - 78
Copyright
© 2020 Academia Europaea

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allern, EH (2010) Political Parties and Interest Groups in Norway. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Allern, EH and Bale, T (2012) Political parties and interest groups disentangling complex relationships. Party Politics 18(1), 7–25, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068811422639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allern, EH and Bale, T (2017) Left-of-centre Parties and Trade Unions in the Twenty-first Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allern, EH and Saglie, J (2008) Between electioneering and politics as usual: the involvement of interest groups in Norwegian electoral politics. In Farrell, DM and Schmitt-Beck, R (eds), Non-Party Actors in Electoral Politics. The Role of Interest Groups and Independent Citizens in Contemporary Election Campaigns. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 67–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allern, EH and Verge, T (2017) Still connecting with society? A cross-sectional study of political parties’ formal links with social groups in the 21st century. In Scarrow, S, Webb, PD and Poguntke, T (eds), Organizing Political Parties Representation, Participation, and Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 106–135.Google Scholar
Allern, EH, Aylott, N and Christiansen, FJ (2007) Social democrats and trade unions in Scandinavia: the decline and persistence of institutional relationships. European Journal of Political Research 46(5), 607–635, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2007.00706.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anzia, S (2019) Looking for influence in all the wrong places: how studying subnational policy can revive research on interest groups. Journal of Politics 81(1), 343–351, http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/700726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baroni, L, Carroll, BJ, Chalmers, AW, Márquez, LMM and Rasmussen, A (2014) Defining and classifying interest groups. Interest Groups & Advocacy 3(2), 141–159, https://doi.org/10.1057/iga.2014.9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binderkrantz, AS (2005) Interest group strategies: navigating between privileged access and strategies of pressure. Political Studies 53(4), 694–715, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00552.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binderkrantz, AS (2008) Competing for attention: interest groups in the news in a Danish Election. In Farrell, DM and Schmitt-Beck, R (eds), Non-Party Actors in Electoral Politics. The Role of Interest Groups and Independent Citizens in Contemporary Election Campaigns. Baden-Baden: Nomos.Google Scholar
Binderkrantz, AS (2014) Legislatures, lobbying, and interest groups. In Martin, S, Saalfeld, T and Strøm, KW (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 526–542.Google Scholar
Binderkrantz, AS (2015) A missing link? Connecting agenda setting research and interest group studies. Interest Groups & Advocacy 4(3), 307–310, https://doi.org/10.1057/iga.2015.9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binderkrantz, AS, Chaqués-Bonafont, L and Halpin, DR (2016) Diversity in the news? A study of interest groups in the media in the UK, Spain and Denmark. British Journal of Political Science 47(2), 313–328, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123415000599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolleyer, N (2018) The State and Civil Society. Regulating Interest Groups, Parties, and Public Benefit Organizations in Contemporary Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caiani, M and Parenti, L (2013) European and American Extreme Right Groups and the Internet. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Carrieri, D and Feltrin, P (2016) Al bivio. Lavoro, sindicato e rappresentanza nell’Italia di oggi, Milan: Donzelli.Google Scholar
Celis, K, Schouteden, A and Wauters, B (2016) Cleavage, ideology and identity. Explaining the linkage between representatives and interest groups. Parliamentary Affairs 69(2), 348–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsv040.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaqués-Bonafont, L and Márquez, LM (2016) Explaining interest group access to parliamentary committees. West European Politics 39(6), 1276–1298, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2016.1184862.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaqués-Bonafont, L, Cristancho, C, Muñoz-Márquez, L and Rincón, L (2020) The contingent character of interest groups–political parties’ interaction Journal of Public Policy, https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0143814X20000082.Google Scholar
Charalambous, G and Christophorou, C (2013) A society within society: Linkage in the case of the Cypriot communist party. South European Society and Politics 18(1), 101–119, https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2013.764066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charalambous, G and Lamprianou, I (2016) Societal responses to the post-2008 economic crisis among south European and Irish radical left parties: continuity or change and why? Government and Opposition 51(2), 261–293, https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2014.35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, FJ (2012) Organizational de-integration of political parties and interest groups in Denmark. Party Politics 18(1), 27–43, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068811422636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courty, G and Gervais, J (2012) Le Lobbying Électoral, Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion.Google Scholar
Dalton, RJ and Wattenberg, MP (2000) Parties without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Downs, A (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Dür, A and De Bièvre, D (2007) The question of interest group influence. Journal of Public Policy 27(1), 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X07000591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duverger, M (1954) Political Parties: Their Organisation and Activity in the Modern State. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Eichenberger, S and Mach, A (2017) Formal ties between interest groups and members of parliament: gaining allies in legislative committees. Interest Groups & Advocacy 6(1), 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41309-017-0012-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francia, PL (2010) Assessing the labor-democratic party alliance: a one-sided relationship? Polity 42(3), 293–303, https://doi.org/10-1057/pol.2010.7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraussen, B and Halpin, DR (2018) Political parties and interest organizations at the crossroads: perspectives on the transformation of political organizations. Political Studies Review 16(1), 25–37, https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929916644868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gava, R, Varone, F, Mach, A, Eichenberger, S, Christe, J and Chao-Blanco, C (2016) Interests groups in parliament: exploring MPs’ interest affiliations (2000-2011). Swiss Political Science Review 23(1), 77–94, https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, W and Marsh, D (1977) The Confederation of British Industry. London: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Gunther, R and Diamond, L (2001) Political Parties and Democracy. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Heaney, MT (2010) Linking political parties and interest groups. In Maisel, SL and Berry, JM (eds), The Oxford Handbook of American Political Parties and Interest Groups. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 568–587.Google Scholar
Heaney, MT (2012) Bridging the gap between political parties and interest groups. In Cigler, AJ and Loomis, BA (eds), Interest Group Politics. London: Sage, pp. 194–218.Google Scholar
Hojnacki, M and Kimball, DC (1998) Organized interests and the decision of whom to lobby in Congress. American Political Science Review 92(4), 775–790, https://doi.org/10.2307/2586303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jalali, C, Silva, P and Silva, S (2012) Givers and takers parties, state resources and civil society in Portugal. Party Politics 18(1), 61–80, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068811422643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, RS and Mair, P (1995) Changing models of party organization and party democracy the emergence of the cartel party. Party Politics 1(1), 5–28, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068895001001001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, RS and Mair, P (2012) Parties, interest groups and cartels: A comment. Party Politics 18(1), 107–111, https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1354068811422644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, RS and Mair, P (2018) Democracy and the Cartelization of Political Parties. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H (2000) Citizens, politicians, and party cartelization: political representation and, state failure in post-industrial societies. European Journal of Political Research 37, 149–179, https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H (2006) Movement parties. In Katz, RS and Crotty, W (eds), Handbook of Party Politics. London: Sage, pp. 278–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klitgaard, MB, Binderkrantz, AS and Pedersen, HH (2014) The new logic of exchange between political parties and interest groups. In Annual Meeting of Danish Political Science Association, Vejle, October 2014.Google Scholar
Lisi, M (2013) Rediscovering civil society? Renewal and continuity in the Portuguese radical left. South European Society and Politics 18(1), 21–39, https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2012.757450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lisi, M (2018) Party–group relations in new Southern European democracies in the crisis era. Mediterranean Politics, https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2018.1428147.Google Scholar
Lisi, M and Márquez, LM (2019) Interest groups in Iberian parliaments. In Fernandes, JM and Leston-Bandeira, C (eds). Iberian Legislatures in Comparative Perspective. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 130–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lizzi, R (2014) Party-group disentanglement in the Italian case: an introduction. Contemporary Italian Politics 6(3), 238–248, https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2014.964051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mach, A (2015) Groupes d’intérêt et Pouvoir Politique. Lausanne: Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes.Google Scholar
Mahoney, C and Baumgartner, F (2008) Converging perspectives on interest group research in Europe and America. West European Politics 31(6), 1253–1273, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380802372688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mavrogordatos, GT (2009) Models of party-interest group relations and the uniqueness of the Greek case. ECPR Joint Sessions Workshop ‘Political Parties and Civil Society’, Lisbon, Portugal, 14–19 April 2009. Available at https://ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/19602ada-1982-44c5-a29c-8c4083b7432f.pdf (accessed 20 May 2019).Google Scholar
Molins, JM, Márquez, LM and Medina, I (eds) (2016) Los Grupos de Interés En España. Madrid: Editorial Tecnos.Google Scholar
Morales, L (2009) Joining Political Organizations. London: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Morlino, L (1998) Democracy between Consolidation and Crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norton, P (ed) (1999) Parliaments and Pressure Groups. London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Olson, M (1982) The Rise and Decline of Nations. New Haven: Yale University Press Google Scholar
Otjes, S and Rasmussen, A (2017) The 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, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068814568046.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poguntke, T (2002) Party organisational linkage: parties without firm social roots? In Luther, KR and Müller-Rommel, F (eds), Political Parties in the New Europe: Political and Analytical Challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 43–62.Google Scholar
Poguntke, T (2006) Political parties and other organizations. In Katz, RS and Crotty, W (eds), Handbook of Party Politics. London: Sage, pp. 396–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, T (2010) New Labour and the trade unions in Britain. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 20(3), 357–380, https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2010.490720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, A (2012) Interest group–party interaction in EU politics. Party Politics 18(1), 81–98, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068811422646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, A and Lindeboom, GJ (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(2), 264–289, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2012.02069.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J (1995) The market for political activism: interest groups as a challenge to political parties. West European Politics 18(1), 116–139, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402389508425060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, EE (1948) Pressure groups versus political parties. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 259(1), 17–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitter, PC (1995) Organized interests and democratic consolidation in Southern Europe. In Gunther, R, Diamandouros, N and Hans-Jurgen, P (eds) The Politics of Democratic Consolidation. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Schmitter, PC (2008) The changing politics of organised interests. West European Politics 31(1–2), 195–210, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380701834994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, BR (2004) Business Politics and the State in Twentieth-Century Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, M (2005) Linkage processes in party networks. In Römmele, A, Farrell, DM and Ignazi, P (eds), Political Parties and Political Systems: The Concept of Linkage Revisited. Westport: Praeger, pp. 37–60.Google Scholar
Streeck, W and Hassel, A (2003) Trade unions as political actors. In Addison, JT and Schnabel, C (eds), International Handbook of Trade Unions. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 335–365.Google Scholar
Thomas, CS (2001) Political Parties and Interest Groups: Shaping Democratic Governance. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Thrall, TA (2006) The myth of the outside strategy: mass media news coverage of interest groups. Political Communication 23, 407–420, https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600600976989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, C (1978) From Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Tsakatika, M and Eleftheriou, C (2013) The radical left’s turn towards civil society in Greece: one strategy, two paths. South European Society and Politics 18(1), 81–99, https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2012.757455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsakatika, M and Lisi, M (2013) ‘Zippin’ up my boots, goin’ back to my roots’: radical left parties in southern Europe. South European Society and Politics 18(1), 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2012.758447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Biezen, I and Poguntke, T (2014) The decline of membership-based politics. Party Politics 20(2), 205–216, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068813519969.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Biezen, I, Mair, P and Poguntke, T (2012) Going, going, … Gone? The decline of party membership in contemporary Europe. European Journal of Political Research 51(1), 24–56, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.01995.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verge, T (2012) Party strategies towards civil society in new democracies: the Spanish case. Party Politics 18(1), 45–60, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068811422648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, JL (1991) Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions, and Social Movements. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warner, CM (2000) Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Europe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witko, C (2017) Still so happy together? The relationship between labor unions and the democratic party. In Allern, W and Bale, T (eds), In Left-of-Centre Parties and Trade Unions in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Yishai, Y (2001) Bringing society back in post-cartel parties in Israel. Party Politics 7(6), 667–687, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068801007006001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar