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INTEREST GROUPS
The ONCE Foundation and the Spanish Committee
of Representatives of Disabled Persons
(CERMI)
are the social organisations most involved in
the public policy-making process in
Spain.
The number of government commissions involving interest
groups has increased tenfold since the late 1980s.
The parliamentary groups organise hearings with interest
groups to discuss 8% of the bills before the Spanish
Congress of Deputies.
The interest groups that are most involved in the
public policy-making process are the least compliant
with transparency standards.
By 2022, only Castilla la Mancha, Catalonia and the
Community of Madrid had implemented
a stakeholder register.
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Stakeholder representation in political processes
INTEREST GROUPS
In advanced democracies, stakeholder or interest groups play an essential role as
representatives of different interests and understandings of problems in the public policy-
making process. The problem is that in most countries this participation is characterised by its
opacity and the high concentration of interest representation in a few organisations that
dominate the political debate outside the scrutiny of the rest of citizens. For years, Q-Dem's
goal has been to gather data and information on which groups participate in the discussion of
public issues in different political arenas – governmental, parliamentary and media arenas –
and levels of government – national, sub-national and European.
Using the information
contained in our databases, we intend to explain variations over time in the inequality of
interest representation by issue, political arena and level of government, and to make
proposals aimed at ensuring the plural, visible and accountable participation of interest groups
in the political process. This line of research and its databases also aim to assess the
implementation of transparency and stakeholder regulation policies and provide solutions that
help to improve the quality of democracy and political representation.
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Survey of interest groups
INTEREST GROUPS
Q-Dem has conducted a survey of the main interest groups in Spain in order to develop a
systematic understanding of the organisational structure and political strategies of interest
groups in a comparative perspective. To this end, the same questionnaire has been used in
other countries – Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy and Sweden – as
part of an international collaborative project (Comparative Interest Group Survey,
www.cigsurvey.eu).
From this survey, we can explain how interest groups interact with political
parties, to what extent mobilisation strategies vary between different types of groups – NGOs,
trade unions, professional associations, employers' associations or professional lobbies – to what
the degree of Europeanization of their activities, as well as explain to what extent interest
groups use social media as an instrument to influence the political process. The questionnaire
and the results of the survey can be downloaded in the database section.
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Regulation of specific issues
INTEREST GROUPS
Q-Dem has developed specific case studies on various issues such as the regulation of moral
issues – abortion, same-sex marriage, assisted reproduction techniques and stem cells – food
safety, pharmaceutical policy, cooperation and development policy, corruption, the regulation
of transparency and basic income. These case studies analyse different issues related to the
dynamics of the agenda and the capacity of different actors in the political system to process
information and make decisions in different political contexts.
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