First World Interest Groups: A Comparative Perspective

(Hardback)

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This comprehensive appraisal of interest groups in Western democracies also offers a systematic comparison of interest group activities and their impact on public policy-making in 12 post-industrial First World nations. Using a conceptual framework and varied perspectives, known experts provide a long-term assessment of interest group systems, identify similarities and differences, and point to current trends and future directions. This up-to-date overview and analysis examines the American model, the British model with its derivations, continental European models, and systems in newer democracies. The chapters describe the factors affecting interest group make-up, their operating techniques, and their influence on public process. The concluding chapter provides further insights for understanding interest groups in a comparative context. A selected bibliography is helpful in pointing to sources for further study.

Reviews

"Clive Thomas has edited a volume that will become a 'must' reading for those interested in the comparative study of interest groups. The individual chapters have been prepared by some of the best people in the field, and the volume has the coherence and common theme to enable the reader to indeed compare and contrast the role of interest groups in the political process in key western democratic countries."-Allan J. Cigler Professor, Political Science University of Kansas
This volume is a major contribution in that it provides general background information on the interest group systems of the major democracies, analyzing differences and similarities, and identifying major trends in interest group systems. The work is less concerned with grand theory and gives more attention to providing an analytical framework for comparison. Undergraduate through faculty.-Choice
"This volume is a major contribution in that it provides general background information on the interest group systems of the major democracies, analyzing differences and similarities, and identifying major trends in interest group systems. The work is less concerned with grand theory and gives more attention to providing an analytical framework for comparison. Undergraduate through faculty."-Choice

Author Bio

CLIVE S. THOMAS, Professor of Political Science, University of Alaska at Juneau, has written on interest groups at length. His most recent books include Politics and Public Policy in the Contemporary American West (1991), Interest Groups Politcs in the Northeastern States (1993), Interest Groups Politics in the Southern States (1992) and Interest Group Politics in the American West (1987).