Have They Already Emerged? Mapping the Population of National Interest Organisations in Post-Communist Poland

Abstract

While political parties provide a key channel for political representation, organised interests can also be an important mechanism. A valid question is whether a system of interest groups is capable of ensuring the representation of a variety of public and private interests. Addressing this conundrum requires data that map the essential traits of organised interest groups in a given country, including their number (density) and types (diversity). This article explores the density and composition of the Polish system of organised interests. The previously unexplored system-level approach delivers insights into the nature of the system and also provides a framework for the subsequent conceptualisation of advocacy and lobbying dynamics.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 See also, van Biezen and Poguntke (2014), and Klüver (2015).

2 See the following examples: Van Waarden (1992) on the Netherlands; Naurin and Boräng (2012) on Sweden; Mohan (2012) on England; Klüver (2015) on Germany; Christiansen (2012) and Fisker (2013) on Denmark—and on the EU overall (Berkhout & Lowery 2010; Coen & Katsaitis 2013; Berkhout 2015); Fink-Hafner (1998, 2011) and Maloney et al. (2018) on Slovenia; Hrebenar et al. (2008) on Lithuania; Císař and Vráblíková (2012) on the Czech Republic; and Cekik (2017) on the Western Balkan countries.

3 See especially, Hrebenar et al. (2008).

4 Government advisory bodies comprising representatives of workers’ and employers’ organisations and other interest groups.

5 Comparative Interest Groups Survey (CIGs), available at: http://www.cigsurvey.eu, accessed 16 January 2020.

6 INTEREURO Project, available at: http://www.intereuro.eu/public/, accessed 10 January 2020.

7 EUROLOB II—Europeanization of Interest Intermediation, available at: http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/d7/en/projects/eurolob-ii-europeanization-of-interest-intermediation, accessed 21 January 2020.

8 ‘National Court Register’, Ministry of Justice, 2017, available at: https://bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/rejestry-i-ewidencje/krajowy-rejestr-sadowy/elektroniczny-dostep-do-krajowego-rejestru-sadowego/, accessed 18 May 2017.

9 Website available at: fundacje.org, accessed 25 February 2021.

10 INTEREURO Project website, available at: https://www.intereuro.eu/, accessed 25 February 2021.

11 For detailed analysis of the Polish case, see especially, Welsh (1994), Letki (2002), Letki and Evans (2005).

12 See especially, Fink-Hafner (1998, 2011), Berglund (2003), Črnak-Meglič and Rakar (2009).

13 Act on Legislative Lobbying (2005) as published in the OJ 2017 poz. 248: Ustawa z dnia 7 lipca 2005 r. o działalności lobbingowej w procesie stanowienia prawa (tj. Dz.U. 2017 poz. 248).

14 See for example, Jordan and Halpin (2012).

15 See for example, Boräng and Naurin (2017) on Sweden; Fraussen and Halpin (2016) on Australia; Gray and Lowery (1996) on the United States; and Klüver (2015) and Kohler-Koch et al. (2013) on Germany.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patrycja Rozbicka

Patrycja Rozbicka, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK. Email: [email protected]

Paweł Kamiński

Paweł Kamiński, Institute for Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Mazovia 00-625, Poland. Email: [email protected]