Are Interest Groups Successful Representatives of the General Public? Preference Attainment and Public Opinion

Support from public opinion is often assumed to be a major asset for interest groups that seek to influence policy decisions. This paper argues that the effect of public support for interest groups’ policy positions on specific issues varies by levels of issue salience and across different stages in the policymaking process; ranging from the government coalition formation and agenda-setting stage, the consultation stage, to parliamentary debate and the final legislative outcome. We expect that public opinion support for interest groups’ positions is more decisive in the agenda-setting stage to attain lobbying success and that the impact of public support declines during the later stages of the policymaking process. Moreover, we analyse how the effect of public support on lobbying success is moderated by the positional congruence with political parties and the mobilization of other, for instance supportive or opposing, interest groups (that pursue opposing positions). We test our expectations for 110 Belgian policy issues for which we combine public opinion data with party and interest group positions and the advocacy activities of interest groups throughout the policy process. The findings have implications for our understanding of the relationship between interest groups, political parties, public opinion and public policy.