Framing and advocacy: a research agenda for interest group studies

ABSTRACT

This research agenda contribution starts from the observation that an increasing number of interest group studies have been addressing questions about framing. Although this emerging literature has made great progress towards being able to study interest group framing in large-n designs owing to advances in data-gathering techniques, many analytical and conceptual challenges still lie ahead. One important question that remains is how framing can serve as a political strategy and, more precisely, which frames are most effective. This article gives an overview of the recent work on interest group framing. It highlights some key issues that interest group scholars face when they undertake research on framing. Various studies on interest group framing are contrasted in terms of the types of frames studied, the level of analysis employed and how influence is determined. I conclude by developing an agenda with some concrete recommendations for interest group scholars that deal with questions about framing.

KEY WORDS:

• Framing
• interest groups
• lobbying
• policy-making
• research methods

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the JEPP editorial team, Jeroen Candel, Jan Beyers, Daniel Naurin, Caelesta Braun and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Notes on contributor

Iskander De Bruycker is an ACCESS Europe postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Amsterdam. His research interests include interest group politics, political communication, public opinion and European Union politics. Address for correspondence: Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, Amsterdam Kamernummer: B10.00, The Netherlands.