Beyond the Ballot: The Emerging Power of Interest Groups in Political Representation

This study examines the role of interest groups in political representation in Central and Eastern Europe, comparing their positions to those of political parties and citizens in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Using novel survey data on interest groups collected in 2023-2024, the analysis explores how interest groups may fill ideological gaps left by political parties, potentially offering alternative avenues for citizen representation. The paper extends beyond traditional economic left-right and GAL-TAN dimensions to also consider positions on immigration and environmental policies. Findings indicate that interest groups often occupy ideological spaces vacant of political parties, but this compensation is not uniform across countries or issues. While parties cluster in certain ideological quadrants, interest groups show a more dispersed distribution. On environmental and immigration issues, interest groups frequently align more closely with citizen preferences than political parties do. However, the ability of interest groups to serve as representational alternatives varies by context.