When do citizens feel represented by interest groups? A conjoint survey experiment on the effects of interest group claims-making on citizens’ feelings of representation

Interest representation forms a key complement to representative democracies as interest groups can form a continuous link between citizens and government. To thrive in this role, interest groups depend on citizens’ support by providing a mandate to represent them. But under which conditions do citizens actually feel represented by interest groups? These conditions are important to understand as it provides insights into how interest groups can best shape how they are perceived by citizens. There is growing research on citizens’ perceptions on interest groups. Existing literature finds that an equal and balanced interest group system and interest congruence are important in citizens’ perceptions. Though existing literature provides important insights on the preferences of citizens in interest group systems, it provides a limited understanding of how citizens feel represented by interest groups and thus how citizens evaluate the representativeness of interest groups. Using a conjoint experiment conducted in the Netherlands and Poland, we test whether citizens feel represented under three representative claim elements: who and what the interest group claims to represent (identification statement), how the interest group claims to represent (activity statement) as well as how the interest group claims to receive support for their claims of representation (support statement).