Gaining Access or Going Public? Interest Group Strategies in Five European Countries

Interest groups differ in the choice of strategy that they use to influence public policy. Some mainly try to gain access, that is, have direct contacts with decision-makers, whereas others tend to “go public”, that is, launch campaigns that aim to mobilize the broader public. We argue that group type – namely the distinction between business and professional associations and citizen groups – is a major determinant of the choice of strategy. The effect of group type, however, is conditional on group resources and the issue context: the differences across group types are largest for resource-rich associations and associations active in distributive policy fields. Original data from surveys of national associations in five European countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Spain) allow us to assess our argument. We find support for our theoretical expectations and argue that our results have relevance for the normative evaluation of political systems and the positive study of interest group influence