TY - JOUR
T1 - With a Little Help from the People?
T2 - The Role of Public Opinion in Advocacy Success
AU - Rasmussen, Anne
AU - Mäder, Lars
AU - Reher, Stefanie
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in research on advocacy success, but limited attention has been paid to the role of public opinion. We examine how support from the public affects advocacy success, relying on a new original data set containing information on public opinion, advocacy positions, and policy outcomes on 50 policy issues in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Claims by advocates are measured through a news media content analysis of a sample of policy issues drawn from national and international public opinion surveys. Our multilevel regression analysis provides evidence that public support affects advocacy success. However, public opinion does not affect preference attainment for some of the lobbying advocates whose influence is feared the most, and the magnitude of its impact is conditional upon the number of advocates who lobby on the policy issue in question.
AB - Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in research on advocacy success, but limited attention has been paid to the role of public opinion. We examine how support from the public affects advocacy success, relying on a new original data set containing information on public opinion, advocacy positions, and policy outcomes on 50 policy issues in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Claims by advocates are measured through a news media content analysis of a sample of policy issues drawn from national and international public opinion surveys. Our multilevel regression analysis provides evidence that public support affects advocacy success. However, public opinion does not affect preference attainment for some of the lobbying advocates whose influence is feared the most, and the magnitude of its impact is conditional upon the number of advocates who lobby on the policy issue in question.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - European politics
KW - interes advocacy
KW - public opinion
KW - media content analysis public policy
U2 - 10.1177/0010414017695334
DO - 10.1177/0010414017695334
M3 - Journal article
VL - 51
SP - 139
EP - 164
JO - Comparative Political Studies
JF - Comparative Political Studies
SN - 0010-4140
IS - 2
M1 - 1
ER -