Sigrid Rossteutscher

William A. Maloney

This unique book offers an empirical assessment of how social and political involvement relates to theories of citizenship and democracy, providing a detailed comparative assessment of the potential that voluntary organizations offer citizens for social and political participation in several European countries. The coherent chapters, written by leading European researchers, examine the participatory opportunities offered by a wide and diverse variety of voluntary associations and provides a comparative perspective on the role, structure and functions of associations in six medium-sized European cities – Aalborg (Denmark), Aberdeen (UK), Bern (Switzerland), Enschede (the Netherlands), Mannheim (Germany) and Sabadell (Spain). This book has a companion volume entitled Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies edited by Jan van Deth, José Ramón Montero and Anders Westholm (Routledge, 2006). Both volumes will be of great interest to students and researchers of European politics, comparative politics and sociology.

A Comparative Analysis

Social Capital and Associations in European Democracies

William Maloney

Grant Jordan

Professor of Politics Grant Jordan

Senior Lecturer in Politics A G Jordan

The central concern of this study is to examine why people choose to join campaigning groups, such as Friends of the Earth or Amnesty, in preference to political parties. Particular emphasis, however, is given to environmental campaign groups. Environmental issues gained increasing political importance in the 1980s, and the environment is subsequently mentioned in almost every policy development. There is now a high level of public interest in dozens of environmental pressure groups. In this new study of two of the best known campaigning groups Grant Jordan and William Maloney ask: why do people choose to join Friends of the Earth or Amnesty International? Who joins? How are they targeted? Why do some leave? Drawing on mainly British and American sources, the authors discuss the significance of the two groups for democracy, and comment on the current commitment of the public to campaigning.

Mobilising Campaign Groups

The Protest Business?

Jan Beyers

Rainer Eising

Interest organizations have always assumed a prominent place in European politics because they link states with citizens, institutionalize the resolution of social conflicts, regulate important sectors of the economy and society, contribute to workable policy outcomes and socialize members into democratic politics. However, the plethora of interest group studies that exist have not consolidated our understanding of these actors. These analyses have been subject to the vagaries of different theoretical perspectives and vary greatly in their conceptual and methodological frameworks. Consequently, a not always complementary and fragmented series of findings has emerged. This book is a systematic and comprehensive effort at investigating and integrating the state of the art in European interest group research. Combining the analysis of interest group politics in the EU with the comparative study of interest organizations, the book seeks to identify the areas about which there is consolidated knowledge, that are marked by controversies, in which considerable uncertainty exists, that have been omitted from research programs and that ought to be part of future studies. Thereby, it provides a general reflection on how the study of interest group politics can be improved by linking it to the comparative study of governance. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Lessons from EU Studies and Comparative Politics

Interest Group Politics in Europe

William A. Maloney

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