Employer and Business Interest Groups in the Czech Republic: Promoting Organized Interests

The main aim of the text is to analyze the strategies used by employer and business interest groups in the Czech Republic to promote their interests, and identify at least some of the variables influencing their choice. The primary focus of the text is on strategies directed at decision makers. The data matrix used in the analyses comes from questionnaire research conducted by the author in January and February 2010. The questionnaire was sent to 239 representatives of interest groups; 91 completed questionnaires were returned. The research included interest groups representing business and employer interests at the national level in the Czech Republic. The text analyzes the differences between groups representing employers and groups representing business in general. The opportunity to participate in social dialogue, along with statutory recognition as a special type of interest group, gives the employer groups (along with trade unions) special status among Czech interest groups. Using statistical analysis to compare the frequency and self-reported effectiveness of strategies used by employer groups and business groups without employer status, the paper tries to identify the effect of this status on the ways the groups promote interests at the national level. Three hypotheses were tested in the paper: 1) There is a difference between the repertoire of strategies used by employer and other business groups. 2) Employer groups are more institutionally incorporated into the decision making process then business groups. 3) The level of institutional incorporation is further connected with choice of strategies.