Synopses & Reviews
Explores the need for political science to pay more attention to complex interactions involving politically relevant groups. Distinguished contributors report on data from around the world and at different levels of political decision making - from "below the radar" in local communities to global negations at the World Trade Organization.
About the Author
DARREN HALPIN Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University, Denmark. He was formerly Professor of Public Policy at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK, where he is now Visiting Professor at the Institute for Management, Governance and Society.
GRANT JORDAN Emeritus Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, Aberdeen University, Scotland, UK. He first wrote about interest groups while working with Jeremy Richardson in the 1970s. They completed Governing Under Pressure in 1979 and Government and Pressure Groups in Britain in 1987. He has completed two major ESRC supported surveys into membership issues with William Maloney, which were reported in The Protest Business (1997) and Democracy and Interest Groups (2007). His other relevant works include Engineers and Professional Self Regulation (1992) and Shell, Greenpeace and Brent Spar (2001).
Table of Contents
Introduction;
D.Halpinand
G.JordanCounting the Voices in the Heavenly Chorus: Pressure Participants in Washington Politics; K.Schlozman
Enumerating Populations of Interest Organizations: The Several Theoretical Purposes of Counting; D.Lowery
The Changing Contours of British Representation: Pluralism in Practice; G.Jordanand J.Greenan
Numbers in a Niche: Lessons from Mapping Gay and Lesbian Groups in the US states; A.J.Nownes
Multiple Arenas, Multiple Populations: Counting Organized Interests in Scottish Public Policy; D.Halpin, G.Baxterand I.MacLeod
Tracking Interest Group Populations in the US and UK; G.Jordan, F.Baumgartner, J.McCarthy, S.Bevanand J.Greenan
The Usual Suspects: Interest Group Dynamics and Representation in Denmark; P.M.Christiansen
Mapping the WTO Interest Group System: Exploring Density, Diversity and Stability Over Time; M.Hanegraaff, J.Beyersand C.Braun-Poppelaars
Below Which Radar? Mapping the Activities of Unregulated Third Sector Organisations in England; J.Mohan
Counting at the Local Level: Where to Stop Counting?; W.A.Maloneyand J.W. van Deth
Conclusion; G.Jordan and D.Halpin