The Inclusion of Interest Organizations in Commissions of Inquiry

Commissions of inquiry are often presented as being valuable for governments when it comes to the inclusion and seeking of advice from interest organizations (IOs). Yet, and surprisingly so, current research reveals little about how governments facilitate IO participation. This paper draw attention to the institutional structures and factors that enable and restrict the participation of IOs in commissions of inquiry in Sweden, a country that extensively employs commissions of inquiry and that has a long tradition of placing IOs in formal roles in processes of inquiry. Serving to structure the project are two questions: 1) When, how and why are IOs consulted in commissions of inquiry?; and 2) What institutional factors and structures enable and constrain IO participation in commissions of inquiry? With its extensive employment of and long tradition with commissions of inquiry, Sweden is particularly well suited when it comes to investigating the factors that either promote or hamper IO participation in commissions of inquiry.