Comparing Interest Groups Access to National and Supranational Policy-Makers in Italy and Spain

The goal of this paper is to explain under what conditions interest groups seek access to national and supranational institutions in Italy and Spain. The study explores to what extend interest groups mobilization varies across issues, countries and levels of governance depending on the level of delegation of issue jurisdiction, the politicization of issues at the national level; the resources available for interest groups; and the features of the interest-group system in both countries. The study relies on the data of the comparative interest group survey (www.cigsurvey.eu) that gathers information about mobilization strategies of more than 400 interest groups in Italy and Spain. Preliminary results indicate interest groups that have a privileged position in the policy-makers process at the national level are more likely to seek access to supranational institutions. Also, interest groups seek access to national institutions with more intensity when issues that are of their special interest are debated in the parliamentary arena. Organizational resources have no significant impact on the frequency of interaction between groups and policy-makers at the national and supranational arenas.