New Perspectives and Emerging Themes in Interest Group Research

In this Section, we focus on a set of new themes in interest group research, as well as fresh perspectives on classic questions in the literature. In some instances, this concerns different approaches to classic topics (such as considering the relations between interest groups and the bureaucracy by focusing on information processing, or comparative research that also includes Central and Eastern European cases), in other cases this involves work on new topics that aims to connect research on interest groups with other central debates in political science (e.g. questions of legitimacy, and analysis of agenda setting dynamics). This Section provides the opportunity to consolidate and deepen these emerging and innovative research agendas. Furthermore, we aim to realise cross-fertilization between research produced in the context of large European collaborative projects (such as INTEREURO and the Comparative Interest Group Survey Project) and related ongoing projects of (teams of) national scholars. Finally, this Section also aims to involve both early career and more senior scholars who are new to the field of interest groups, as well as researchers who address similar research questions from a different disciplinary background. Papers will look at the proposed themes from a theoretical, empirical and/or normative perspective, and seek to involve an international community of scholars that encompasses leading scholars and early career researchers, as well as researchers from different parts of Europe and other regions.