Slovenia: Interest group developments in a postsocialist‐liberal democracy

Novák, Miroslav; Fink‐Hafner, Danica

doi:10.1002/pa.1867

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Additionally, a corporatist system was incorporated in legislative power in the form of an upper chamber. The National Council represents territorial and functional interests including those of trade unions and employers' organizations, as well as some professional interests (Novak -Fink -Hafner 2019a).…”

Section: Process Of Europeanisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, interest groups representatives view their members as relatively important to interest groups activities. Members are on average important to interest groups, which could be seen as indicative of high levels of internal democracy that are probably connected to the lower levels of the professionalization of interest groups in these two countries and their dependence on volunteers and voluntary work (Novak -Fink Hafner 2019a;Komar 2019). With the further development of the interest group systems and their professionalization in both countries, it will become important to maintain the active role of members in interest group activities.…”

Section: Source: Cig Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The organisational development of interest groups in Montenegro and Slovenia: Do they contribute to more inclusive democracy?

Novák

Komar

2020

Politics in Central Europe

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Despite the joint history of Montenegro and Slovenia as republics of the former Yugoslavia, the development of the interest groups system has been different in these countries. While in Slovenia, these groups started to develop from the 19th century, in Montenegro the interest groups system was almost non-existent in the pre-socialist period with only a few participative elements, such as the use of tribal assemblies. Socialism did not support associational life, since most of the organizations that were founded at the time were under some form of government control. As a consequence, the interest groups system in Slovenia shrank during socialist rule, while in Montenegro it remained at the same level. During the 1980s and after the collapse of the socialist regime the interest group system in Montenegro finally starts to develop, being heavily influenced by international donor and assistance programmes, while in Slovenia the system had a new opportunity to flourish. In this article we are in particularly interested in how the interest group system contributes to the quality of democracy. Although Montenegrin interest groups have been a tool of influence and democratisation primarily on behalf of the international community, their internal democracy is less sophisticated than is the case in Slovenia. The results show that the origin of the interest groups system and the distinct histories of the specific political cultures seem to be embedded in the functioning of contemporary interest groups. This in turn, determines the strength or weakness of these groups in facing the challenges of de-democratisation.

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Section: Process Of Europeanisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Source: Cig Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

The organisational development of interest groups in Montenegro and Slovenia: Do they contribute to more inclusive democracy?

Novák

Komar

2020

Politics in Central Europe

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“…This may deal with the development of the interest group system in a particular country (e.g. on Italy: Lizzi and Pritoni, 2017; on Denmark: Binderkrantz et al 2017; on Slovenia: Novak and Fink-Hafner, 2019) or address the particular interest representation in a sector (e.g. on health care: Gray and Lowery , 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group Populations

Berkhout¹

2019

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs

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DefinitionScholars from a number of disciplines have shown interest in the enumeration of the interest groups active in particular political systems or the numbers of associations present in a given civil society (e.g. Halpin and Jordan, 2012). Descriptive 'maps' of the group population are of critical importance for a range of substantive scholarly interests and is a commodity for several adjacent research methods such as surveys, elite interviewing and issue sampling. This map will look somewhat different depending on the research interest at stake, and researchers will have to define the limits of their population, critically assess the adequacy of data sources available, and decide upon characteristics and categories of classification.Introduction:

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“…While Slovenia has a quite developed interest group system, it is still far from more professionalised interest groups systems in advanced democracies. Its interest representation is strongly based on elite networks, a limited access to financial and human resources and a strong dependence from the state in their obtainment (Novak and Fink-Hafner 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A golden key can open any door? Public funding and interest groups’ access

Crepaz

Hanegraaff

Salgado

2019

West European Politics

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Are government funds an opportunity or a threat to interest groups' participation in policy-making? In answering this question, previous research has raised the question of the interrelatedness between access to policymakers and funding of interest groups' activities. A popular argument represents funding opportunities as inhibitors of interest group access to policy-making because of the funds' negative effect on an organization's autonomy. In opposition to this view, many authors have argued that public funds open access opportunities and contribute to an active involvement of funded organizations in the policy process. This article provides a novel explanation for these contrasting findings. The effect of public funds on access critically depends on the type of contacts organizations have with policymakers. Funding might positively affect access initiated by policymakers (high threshold), but might not affect access initiated by interest groups (low threshold). Using survey data collected from more than 2000 organizations active in four European countries and at the EU level, the article shows that public funds are associated to an organization's participation in policy-making but this correlation is indeed highly dependent on the type of contacts groups have with policymakers. KEYWORDS Interest groups; government funding; access; lobbying; insider State funding of interest group communities is described in the literature as a system of direct transfers from government agencies to an organisation that seeks financial support with the aim of implementing a project or support administrative and organizational changes (Crepaz and Hanegraaff 2020). 1 The existence of such mechanism is generally legitimised by the willingness of the state to support the development of civil society, ensure more efficient implementation, and add strength to the CONTACT

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Slovenia: Interest group developments in a postsocialist‐liberal democracy

Cited by 26 publications

References 16 publications

The organisational development of interest groups in Montenegro and Slovenia: Do they contribute to more inclusive democracy?

The organisational development of interest groups in Montenegro and Slovenia: Do they contribute to more inclusive democracy?

Group Populations

A golden key can open any door? Public funding and interest groups’ access

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