Status quo bias in comparative perspective: Agenda-setting by interest groups and political parties in the United Kingdom, Germany and The Netherlands

Who drives policy change? The common-sense and formal-institutional answer to this question is that the elected incumbents initiate policy change, ideally in line with the preferences of their voters or with the pledges made to them. In contrast, many interest group scholars hold that powerful groups can either prevent change or set the agenda for new policy initiatives. Drawing on elite interviews with approximately 300 interest group representatives from Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, we examine the empirical implications of these compet-ing hypotheses by comparing the party-interest-group-constellations pushing for change on poli-cy issues with those defending the policy status quo. We also take into account several alternative and mediating factors, such as public opinion (level of support, level of awareness), and other issue characteristics (scope, agenda status). Our analysis shows that public policy is, in-deed, relatively resistant to change and that change is only likely when supported by a broad set of actors, including both government parties and a supporting coalition of interest groups.