Technocratic or Democratic Interest Representation? How Different Types of Information Affect Lobbying Success

What type of information helps interest advocates get their way? While it is widely acknowledged in the academic literature that information provision is a key aspect of lobbying, little research has tested the effect of information on lobbying success. Moreover, although some argue that lobbying success increases with the amount of information that is supplied, little research has explored whether the type of information that interest groups provide matters in this regard. Policymakers need information both on public preferences and technical aspects to anticipate electoral consequences as well as the effectiveness of a policy proposal. However, scholars have found that interest groups predominantly provide the former rather than the latter, which could lead us to expect that technical information is seen as more efficient. The paper argues that lobbying success is not solely a question of the more the merrier but that the type of information plays an important role as well. It furthermore argues that the relevance of different types of information for lobbying success is dependent on factors external to the actor such as public opinion, saliency or type of policy issue. Relying on new original data of advocacy activity of 1410 actors on 50 specific policy issues in five West European countries, the paper tests whether certain types of information increase the chance of preference attainment and under which conditions this is more likely to happen. It ultimately contributes to our understanding of informational lobbying, interest representation and interest group influence.