Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
McMenamin, I;Schoenman, R
2007
March
Political Studies
Together forever? Explaining exclusivity in party-firm relations
Published
18 ()
Optional Fields
POLITICAL CORRUPTION POLAND INSTITUTIONS POLITICIZATION REPRESENTATION EUROPE REFORM STATE ELITE
55
153
173
Parties and firms are the key actors of representative democracy and capitalism, respectively, and the dynamic of attachment between them is a central feature of any political economy. This is the first article to analyse systematically the exclusivity of party-firm relations. We consider exclusivity at a point in time and exclusivity over time. Does a firm have a relationship with only one party at a given point in time, or is it close to more than one party? Does a firm maintain a relationship with only one party over time, or does it switch between parties? Most important, how do patterns of exclusivity impact on a firm's ability to lobby successfully? We propose a general theory, which explains patterns of party-firm relations by reference to the division of institutions and the type of party competition in a political system. A preliminary test of our theory with Polish survey data confirms our predictions, establishing a promising hypothesis for future research.
HOBOKEN
0032-3217
10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00647.x
Grant Details