The Missing Link? The Relationship Between Political Parties and Organised Interests

Abstract

It is widely assumed that links between parties and interest groups have attenuated over time in established democracies. There is some empirical support for this assumption, but there are also studies which suggest that it may be too sweeping. Moreover, work in this area tends to apply different measurements and often involves small-n studies. More comparative research is therefore needed to describe and explain more systematically and precisely the relationship – strength/weakness of links – between parties and interest groups, across countries. This panel will mix empirical studies with papers which discuss theoretical and methodological issues. Both single country studies and cross-national studies are welcome, and also papers focusing on particular kinds of parties and/or interest-groups in different countries.

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