Interest groups and effective substantive representation

Abstract

While interest groups are often portrayed as vehicles of political representation, skeptical voices highlight the political inequalities and representational biases in the interest group system. In recent years, a considerable body of research has assessed the representative strengths and drawbacks of interest groups empirically. However, to date we lack a coherent theoretical perspective on the role played by interest groups in political representation that accommodates the conflicting views and findings. Assuming that moving forward theoretically requires adequate concepts, we propose a perspective on interest groups as vehicles of substantive representation that is reflected in public policy. Focusing on the level of the interest group system, we develop the concept of effective substantive representation against a backdrop of normative accounts of democratic representation as well as positive theoretical and empirical research on interest group politics. We apply the concept theoretically to two main mechanisms of interest representation—information provision and agenda setting. Finally, we illustrate the concept’s analytical value in the context of two intervening factors—group type and system of interest representation.