Research team
Expertise
Dr. Evelien Willems's research focuses on lobbying and interest representation in Belgium and other European countries. Specifically, she studies the interplay between interest groups, public opinion and public policy. The main questions she tries to answer in her research are when and how interest groups strengthen or weaken the connection between citizens' policy preferences and policy outcomes. She completed her PhD on this topic in February 2021. Currently, she is further developing this research agenda as a postdoctoral researcher. Her methodological expertise includes content analysis of news coverage, legislation and government documents, and survey methodologies in function of statistical analysis purposes (R and STATA).
Beyond the ballot box – Examining interest groups' influence on party manifestos and coalition agreements.
Abstract
As the Belgian (sub)national elections approach in June 2024, numerous interest groups are trying to shape political parties' agendas and policy stances outlined in election manifestos. Crucially, these manifestos contain the promises parties seek to fulfill, preferably in coalition agreements. Consequently, interest groups focus their efforts post-election on parties involved in coalition negotiations. However, despite this flurry of lobbying surrounding elections, European research on interest group influence during these pivotal periods is lacking. This project therefore addresses two key aspects: (1) examining interest groups' interactions with parties and (2) measuring the extent to which these groups exert influence over parties' priorities and positions in manifestos and coalition agreements. Key factors under scrutiny driving interest group-party interactions and influence include organizational characteristics, party attributes, the nature of the interest group-party relationship, and the issue context in which groups operate. The methodology involves two survey waves conducted among approximately 1700 Belgian interest groups, interviews with newly elected representatives, and content analyses of party manifestos and coalition agreements. This comprehensive approach will yield novel insights elucidating how lobbying unfolds during two pivotal moments for representative democracy: the lead-up to and immediate aftermath of elections.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Walgrave Stefaan
- Fellow: Willems Evelien
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
The road to advocacy success: Analyzing the mechanisms shaping issue-specific interactions among interest groups and policymakers.
Abstract
Interest groups often play a key role in public policymaking. The lengthy and complex nature of many policy processes, however, means that interest groups typically have to overcome various hurdles to gain influence. Next to agenda-setting success, groups must be effective advocates in several decision-making venues. This project proposes a novel analytical framework connecting interest group literature with social movement studies to (1) analyze intermittent advocacy successes, both in terms of attracting attention for issue priorities and attaining policy positions; and (2) assess the moderating effects of politicization and public opinion on how advocacy shapes the course of policy processes. The project conceptualizes the policy process as a sequence of distinct episodes characterized by whether and how interest groups and policymakers interact among each other and thereby shape the final policy outcome. Empirically, news media and policy content analyses are combined with elite interviews to construct a timeline of interactions between interest groups and policymakers on a medium-N of issues spanning the 2014-2024 Belgian legislative periods. Methodologically, time series and qualitative comparative analysis methods will be used to dissect interaction processes and link them to advocacy successes.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Beyers Jan
- Promoter: Walgrave Stefaan
- Fellow: Willems Evelien
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project