Peer-reviewed article
Does the Government Selection Process Promote or Hinder Pluralism? Exploring the Characteristics of Voluntary Organizations Invited to Public Consultations
2013Lundberg, E.Journal of Civil Society
What is this study about?
The study examines which types of civil society organisations are invited by the state to participate in public consultations and political decision-making processes. The focus is on the selection process itself: which organisational characteristics increase the likelihood of gaining access, and does the state's way of selecting participants mean that a broad diversity of organisations and interests is included? The study thereby tests whether public consultations in practice promote the pluralism they are expected to enable.
What did we find?
Are the state's consultations open to a broad diversity of civil society organisations? The study shows that access to political decision-making processes is not evenly distributed. Some types of organisations have greater opportunities than others to be invited, and organisational characteristics and resources matter for who gains access. The state's selection thus functions as an important mechanism affecting which parts of civil society are able to advance their perspectives in the policy process.
Why does it matter?
Public consultations can give civil society organisations the opportunity to contribute knowledge and represent different groups and interests. But how pluralist participation actually becomes depends on which organisations the state chooses to invite. If certain types of organisations systematically find it easier to gain access, even a formally open system can yield an uneven representation of societal interests. The study therefore shows why the state's selection process matters for questions of pluralism, political equality and civil society's representation in democracy.
Citation
Lundberg, E. (2013) Does the Government Selection Process Promote or Hinder Pluralism? Exploring the Characteristics of Voluntary Organizations Invited to Public Consultations. Journal of Civil Society 9(1) 58–77
Research area
Related publications
- Doctoral thesisCivil Society, Organization and Democracy
A pluralist state? Civil society organizations’ access to the Swedish policy process 1964–2009
2014Lundberg, E.Doktorsavhandling, Örebro universitet
- Peer-reviewed articleCivil Society, Organization and Democracy
Organizational Identity and Civil Society’s Responses Against the Far Right
2026Lundberg, E.Journal of Civil Society
- Peer-reviewed articleCivil Society, Organization and Democracy
Different Types, Different Reactions? How Civil Society Organizations Respond to Right-Wing Extremism
2022Lundberg, E.Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations
- Peer-reviewed articleCivil Society, Organization and Democracy
No More Political Compromise? Swedish Commissions of Inquiry 1990–2016
2021Dahlström, C., Lundberg, E., & Pronin, K.Scandinavian Political Studies