The relationship between interest groups and public institutions

Abstract

Our local democracies face a variety of policy challenges that have to be tackled in a governance context. Relationships between citizens and local governmental actors (vertical) and connections between citizens (horizontal) are core to the functioning of local societies. Therefore research is increasingly investigating the interrelation between interest groups or social movements and local public institutions. This panel brings together scholars working on the interaction between local government and local interest groups. They present answers on questions such as: what impact do activities of civil society organisations have on social cohesion? Who is involved in the relationship between interest groups and public institutions? What is the impact of the relationship between local interest groups and local government on policy outcomes? What kind of relationships exist in different community initiatives? How do these relationships impact democratic governance?

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