Feminist Lobbying: explaining Spain’s equal parental leave through the interaction of interest groups and political parties

Interest groups (IGs) and political parties might be the two types of organizations with the greatest policy influence. Nevertheless, literature studying IGs’ and parties’ influence rarely interact. Taking an inductive approach, this process-tracing case study illustrates how the interaction between a civil society interest group and political parties steered the development of leave reforms in Spain. The Spanish case is particularly interesting given the magnitude of policy change. Originally being a conservative welfare state, it is currently a pioneer with a parental leave design which bestows the same amount of time to each parent, promoting gender equality in leave uptake. Spanning between 1990 and 2019, the research strategy combines a thoughtful examination of parliamentary initiatives concerning leave reform and 14 interviews with the key actors involved. Results trace how the reform initiative was originally pursued by a civil society organization through ‘feminist lobbying'. Namely, activists drafted a legal initiative and successfully persuaded female parliamentarians from the gender equality area of diverse parties to support it. Through these women’s alliances, the proposal was introduced in several parliamentary initiatives, although without reaching approval. The emergence of new political parties created an opportunity for the organization to filter its demand into a party program. Once this occurred, the party initially moved the reform higher in the parliamentary agenda. Subsequently, upon the arrival of a progressive government, this and other left-wing party presented their own legal texts. Then, final approval followed negotiations between parties and social partners, while the influence of the organization waned. Findings from this case study illuminate the causal mechanisms connecting IGs’ activity and policy change. This complements current large-N quantitative studies theorizing how various conditions alter IGs' policy influence. Moreover, findings also contribute to this literature by constituting an empirical test in a specific context. More particularly, the results can inform novel perspectives by exemplifying successful lobbying practices from a civil society organization, taking a gender perspective. In addition, they contribute to differentiating the relative influence of IGs and political parties across various stages of the policy process.