Peer-reviewed article
The Value of Participation: Exploring the Role of Public Consultations from the Vantage Point of Interest Groups
2016Lundberg, E., & Hysing, E.Scandinavian Political Studies
What is this study about?
The study examines how interest groups themselves view the value of participating in public consultations and political decision-making processes. The focus is on what goals the organisations have with their participation and what they feel they get out of it. The study thereby broadens the perspective from the question of whether organisations succeed in influencing a specific political decision to the various functions that participation in consultations can serve for the organisations.
What did we find?
Why do organisations choose to invest time and resources in participating in public consultations? The study shows that the value does not only lie in the opportunity to directly influence political decisions. Participation can also provide organisations with information, contacts and access to decision-makers, as well as opportunities to advance their perspectives and strengthen their position in the policy process. Public consultations thus serve multiple functions for interest groups, even when their views are not directly translated into political decisions.
Why does it matter?
Civil society participation in political decision-making processes is often assessed in terms of whether organisations get their demands through. The study shows why this is too narrow a measure of the significance of participation. Participating can be valuable even without direct political impact, since the process can provide organisations with information, relationships and opportunities to represent their members and interests. This offers a broader understanding of why organised interests participate in public consultations and what role such arenas play in the relationship between civil society and the state.
Citation
Lundberg, E., & Hysing, E. (2016) The Value of Participation: Exploring the Role of Public Consultations from the Vantage Point of Interest Groups. Scandinavian Political Studies 39(1) 1–21
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