Interest Groups in National and International Governance Regimes

Brief description

This course will examine theories and empirical research on how organised interests organise in the first place, are governed internally, enter and interact with each other in populations or interest communities, and seek to influence policy in national and international Governance regimes. Starting with the
history and the development of interest groups (IGs) and corporatist politics, students will get an overview of the nature and variety of IGs by reviewing the types of, and institutional issues related to them. The course will place special attention on the scope, nature and/or effect of the involvement of organised interests in policy-making, including the formulation of theoretical expectations and observable normative implications.

Mode of delivery

face to face

Type

compulsory

Recommended or required reading and other learning resources/tools

Heywood, Andrew (2013) Groups, interests and Movements, In: ibd.: politics. 4th edition. New York: Palgrave; pp. 245-264.
Beyers, Jan et al. (Hrsg.) (2016) Legislative Lobbying in Context. Routledge.
Cairney, Paul (2019) Understanding Public Policy. Theories and Issues. 2 ed.,
Machmillan/Red Globe Press.
Chrisinger, David (2017) Public Policy Writing that matters. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cigler, Allan/ Loomis, Burdett/ Nownes, Anthony (2015) Interest Group Politics. 9th editions, CQ press.
State-of-the-art articles from Peer-reviewed Journals (Journal of Public Affairs; Journal Interest Groups & Advocacy)
Lewis, David (2014) Non-Governmental Organizations, Management and Development. 3rd edition. Routledge.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Problem-based learning, classroom-debates, group work, case-studies, presentations, written activities, peer feedbacks

Assessment methods and criteria

Continuous assessment, 60 points individual home assignments; 30 points group work; 10 points active participation

Prerequisites and co-requisites

none

Infos

Degree programme

European Economy & Business Management (Bachelor)

Cycle

Bachelor

ECTS Credits

2.00

Language of instruction

English

Curriculum

Full-Time

Academic year

2024

Semester

4 SS

Incoming

No

Learning outcome

After successful completion of the course, students can:

  • Outline theories on interest representation; considering different interest systems such as neo-corporatist and pluralist systems
  • Determine and classify distinct types of interest groups and instruments (interest articulation & aggregation);
  • Identify legal as well as structural framework conditions of interest representation;
  • Understand the main perspectives on the interest production process in terms of mobilisation, strategy choice, access to political gatekeepers and, potentially, influence on policy outcomes
  • Analyse and evaluate functional and dysfunctional forms of political representation of interests and their effects on political decision-making in multiple venues;
  • Apply theoretical perspective on the relationships between policymakers and organised interests;
  • Select and design suitable methods to assess the role and success of organised interests, such as qualitative or quantitative (text) analysis, interviews, survey methods etc.
  • Evaluate real-world examples with regard to weaknesses and strengths of the applied strategy;
  • Develop and formulate their own lobbying (or advocacy) strategies based on practical guidelines;

Course code

0389-20-01-VZ-DE-47e