Explaining interest group access to parliamentary committees

Chaqués Bonafont, Laura; Muñoz Márquez, Luz

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2016.1184862

Explaining interest group access to parliamentary committees

Citation

Chaqués-Bonafont L, Muñoz LM. Explaining interest group access to parliamentary committees. West European Politics. 2016;39(6):1276-98. DOI: 10.1080/01402382.2016.1184862

Abstract

This article explains why parliamentary groups invite interest groups to the parliamentary arena. It argues that interest groups’ access to committees not only reflects policy-makers’ need for information and expertise but also party preferences and institutional factors such as the type of government, parliamentary committee structure and committee agenda capacity. Results show that interest groups’ access to the parliamentary arena increases under minority governments, in the case of highly conflictual issues, and when the number of permanent committees increases. Also, results demonstrate that parliamentary groups invite interest organisations following different logics – problem-solving or confrontation logic – depending on the type of functions they have to perform – legislative and oversight activities. The article uses a novel, comprehensive database with information on the appearances of all interest groups in the Spanish parliament from 1996 to 2015.