The lobbying success of citizen and economic groups in Denmark and the UK

The political influence of interest groups manifests in different ways. Interest groups may affect which political problems attract attention as well as the political decisions aimed at solving these problems. Crucially, different types of groups may be successful in respect to these different dimensions of influence. Economic groups have been described as engaging more in “insider” politics affecting public policy decisions, whereas citizen groups engage more in “outsider” politics affecting agenda setting. This study investigates the multidimensional character of interest group influence and links it to group type as well as lobbying strategies. The study is based on original survey data collected among Danish and British interest groups in 2011–2014. We find two related but distinct dimensions associated with agenda-setting and decision-making lobbying success. The analyses show that citizen and economic groups influence politics in different ways due to their choice of strategies and their different types of resources. Thus, group type has a direct as well as an indirect effect on lobbying success. This relationship is present in both pluralist UK and corporatist Denmark.