The attribution of public status to interest groups: observations on the West German case (1980)

Abstract

(p. 127) "This chapter argues that the transition from "conjunctural" to "structural" modes of political strategies has been a dominant trend in advanced capitalist nations since the late sixties. It concentrates on strategies of institutional change concerning political inputs and explores the strategic significance and consequences of such changes. Using materials from the Federal Republic of Germany, this chapter considers (1) whether changes in the structure of interest representation can actually be explained by the intention to influence the volume and nature of political problems that appear on the political agenda and (2) whether the strategy of elimination of "problem overload" by institutionalizing filter mechanisms designed to reduce the magnitude of problems to manageable proportions is actually a workable and successful strategy or whether it generates its own specific failures and contradictions."