Interest Group Networks

Abstract

Winning in front of the courts, the legislative arena, or the executive branch is not a solitary act. While interest groups use a variety of techniques to exert influence, coalition strategies are the dominant lobbying technique. That is, interest groups do not work alone. However, many questions remain about such coalitions. Interest groups form coalitions to pursue their strategic goals at reduced costs, shape public debate by influencing a broader platform, gather information, and receive symbolic benenefits (Hula 1999). Further, Hula's classic work emphasizes the need to explain interest group coalitions, which can be viewed as institutions of collective leadership, bargaining, and strategy among member organizations. In other words, it is necessary to understand interest groups as part of a network and the relationships among them. In this piece, we examine interest group network linkages. The network structure of interest groups is important because the structures serves as a conduit of information. It also matters because of the strategic interaction of networked groups. In the political world, where it is often said that who you know matters as much as what you know, both aspects of network structure are important.