Lobbying Strategies in Unconsolidated Democracy: Insights from a Survey of Interest Groups in North Macedonia

Most of the research on interest groups lobbying strategies has been conducted in long-lived Western democracies. Following the lead from recent research on interest groups lobbying amid democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe, and lobbying in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian states, we are investigating: What lobbying strategies interest groups use when operating in an unconsolidated democracy? Which groups lobby in coalitions? How do strategies differ across group types and organizational resources? The behavior of groups operating in unconsolidated democracies might be similar to those in countries undergoing democratic backsliding, yet long-standing hybrid regimes differ in that the deficiencies in the institutional and civic space in which groups operate are relatively stable over time and groups have been born and maintained within such context. To investigate the research questions, we use novel data on North Macedonia, collected via survey of associations in 2025. North Macedonia is a case of unconsolidated democracy where the relationships of interest groups and political institutions are not substantially formalized and where various democratic deficits (e.g. constraints on media freedoms or freedom of assembly) may add to the interest representation biases existing in developed democracies. We theorize and test hypotheses on the organizational and institutional determinants of lobbying strategies, and by doing so we contribute to greater understanding of interest groups activity in unconsolidated democracies.