The Population Ecology of Interest Representation: Lobbying Communities in the American StatesUniversity of Michigan Press, 1996 - 304 pages This examination of lobbying communities explores how interest group populations are constructed and how they influence politics and public policy. By examining how populations of interest groups are comprised, this work fills an important gap between existing theories of the origins of individual interest groups and studies of interest group influence. The population ecology model of interest communities developed here builds on insights first developed in population biology and later employed by organizational ecologists. The model's central premise is that it is the environmental forces confronting interest organizations that most directly shape the contours of interest populations. After examining the demography of interest organizations in the fifty American states, the population ecology model is used to account for variations in the density and diversity of their interest communities, the nature of competition among similar interest organizations to establish viable niches, and the impact of alternative configurations of interest communities on the legislative process and the policies it produces. These empirical findings suggest that the environment of interest communities is highly constraining, limiting their size, composition, and potential impact on politics. Virginia Gray is Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota. David Lowery is Burton Craige Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Table des matières
The Importance of Populations | 1 |
Conventional Research and Population Questions | 13 |
The Population Ecology Approach | 37 |
Population Ecology and Organized Interests | 61 |
Describing State Interest Communities | 85 |
Population Entry and Exit | 111 |
The ESA Model of Population Density | 137 |
The ESA Model of Population Diversity | 159 |
Impacts on the Economy Policy and Politics | 219 |
Findings and Future Work | 243 |
On the Use of Lobby Registration Rolls | 255 |
Survey of Interest Organization Leaders | 259 |
Notes | 267 |
References | 279 |
293 | |
301 | |
The Structure of Interest Communities | 177 |
Interest Communities and Legislative Activity | 199 |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
The Population Ecology of Interest Representation: Lobbying Communities in ... Virginia Gray,David Lowery Affichage d'extraits - 1996 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Aldrich analysis annual exit rate average balkanization biology chapter coefficients competitive exclusion principle constituent interest constituent number David Lowery density and diversity density dependence E. O. Wilson economic growth empirical enactments entry rates environment environmental Evelyn Fox Keller expect fundamental niches GSP-BASE guilds Hannan and Freeman Heinz Herfindahl index hypothesis increase independent variables indicate influence institutions inter interaction interest certainty interest communities interest group interest organiza interest organization communities interest organization density interest organization populations interest organization system interest representation interest systems issue legislative activity legislatures literature lobbyists measures Membership Groups mobilization not-for-profit interests number of interest number of organizations Olson's organization ecology organized interests party competition patterns percent population density population ecology population-level potential predictions R-square R-square values registered reported sample scenario Schlozman and Tierney sector South Dakota species tests theory tions types of interest Virginia School zations