Scholars that examine interest group activities frequently make a distinction between “generalist” and “specialist”, distinguishing peak organizations that focus on a wide variety of topics from niche organizations that concentrate on a more limited number of narrow issues (Browne 1990; Halpin and Binderkrantz 2009). In addition, studies that examine interest group strategies have demonstrated that policy topics represent an important explanatory factor (Berkhout 2009; Beyers and Kerremans 2007 Rasmussen 2009). Consequently, an issue portfolio, the set of issues in which an organization invest resources, represents a vital factor in interest group politics. Surprisingly, however, the origin and nature of these issue portfolios receives scant attention from interest group scholars. In this paper, we provide a thorough analysis of this crucial asset, both on a conceptual and empirical level. First, we demonstrate why an issue portfolio should be conceived as a fundamental element of a group’s strategy. Second, we explore how supply and demand factors shape these portfolios, providing empirical evidence from different types of interest groups.
