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Lookup NU author(s): Professor William Maloney
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Palgrave Macmillan Ltd., 2021.
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Interest groups are perceived as vehicles that can enhance the legitimacy of public institutions at the national and supranational level. However, the potential of these organizations to enhance democratic representation is often questioned and has rarely been systematically analysed. In this article we examine the under-researched area of interest groups accountability, a key component for groups to realize their democratic potential. To do this, we take an organization-centric and top-down perspective and develop a tailored analytical framework including three key dimensions – information, discussion and consequences. Drawing on data from a large-scale survey of interest groups active at the EU level, we find considerable variation in the extent to which groups demonstrate practices related to these three accountability dimensions. Furthermore, while receiving funding from EU institutions does not have any significant effect on interest group accountability, we find that organizations representing businesses interests more frequently develop accountability practices related to the dimensions of discussion and consequences, whereas citizen groups are more focussed on the information dimension.
Author(s): Fraussen B, AlbaredaSanz A, Braun C, Maloney WA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Interest Groups & Advocacy
Year: 2021
Volume: 10
Pages: 114-136
Print publication date: 01/06/2021
Online publication date: 06/03/2021
Acceptance date: 08/02/2021
Date deposited: 18/02/2021
ISSN (print): 2047-7414
ISSN (electronic): 2047-7422
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41309-021-00116-1
DOI: 10.1057/s41309-021-00116-1
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