@phdthesis{HorvathPopp2023Inter-68029,
  year={2023},
  title={Interest Groups, their Structure, and Access : A Comparative Analysis of Interest Intermediation in Central and Eastern Europe},
  author={Horváth-Popp, Brigitte},
  address={Konstanz},
  school={Universität Konstanz}
}

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    <dc:creator>Horváth-Popp, Brigitte</dc:creator>
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    <dcterms:abstract>The present dissertation thesis contributes to the advancement of research on interest intermediation structures in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The underlying assumption is that civil society is an important part of any democratic polity (Dahl, 1961). Given recent illiberal developments, especially in young democracies in CEE, interest group systems need to be monitored continuously as they are important for our understanding of the functioning of democracy (Beyers, Eising, &amp; Maloney, 2008). Therefore, the thesis seeks to answer the research question How do interest groups in CEE find their way into the political process? using a sample of four CEE countries, namely, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. In these countries, the policy areas of energy, health, and higher education are analysed in order to test the argument that, despite different institutional structures, the professionalisation of interest groups is essential for their success. &lt;br /&gt;
The timeframe of the dataset, and therefore the study, is 2019 to 2020, while the most similar case design guided the case selection process. The cases are similar in that they each represent post-communist democracies with a similar economic development that are members of the EU. They differ in their institutional context, as Czechia and Slovenia can be considered the most democratic, while Hungary and Poland are the least democratic of the sample (Coppedge et al., 2022). The aim of the thesis is to generalise the results for the CEE region. The analysis was carried out using standardised methods on a sample of more than 400 active interest groups in the region. Within the IntOrgCEE research project, the survey data were newly collected. Among other things, the dataset includes variables on the perception of the interest intermediation system by interest groups and on the professionalisation of interest group activity. &lt;br /&gt;
The cumulative dissertation consists of three successive papers. The first paper analyses institutions and corporatist arrangements based on the sample of energy policy actors, with the main finding that energy corporatism, i.e. the incorporation of energy interest groups, is most pronounced in Slovenia, followed by Czechia, Poland and Hungary. The second paper builds on these findings and analyses the access of interest groups. The paper finds that the institutional context does not play as important a role as the professionalisation of interest groups. In other words, access in CEE is determined more by professionalisation than by the institutional context. The third paper elaborates on factors affecting professionalisation. Apart from EU accession, professionalisation could be a factor promoting democratisation. The main finding is that organisational resources, i.e. national funding, common strategies and international networking, explain the level of professionalisation. Thus, the main theoretical contribution of the thesis is the further development of organisational theory, i.e. the professionalisation of interest groups. Empirically, the thesis contributes with findings from an understudied region using a novel dataset.</dcterms:abstract>
    <dc:contributor>Horváth-Popp, Brigitte</dc:contributor>
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