Interest group access to key policymakers a comparative analysis

Abstract

This thesis uses both quantitative and qualitative data to offer the most comprehensive and systematic investigation into Irish interest group behaviour heretofore conducted. At the same time it is also makes a significant contribution to the more general lobbying literature by offering a comparison of EU and domestic level lobbying. Furthermore, in its examination of interest group access, it uses not only the typical 'frequency of access’ dependent variable but also supplements this with a novel 'invited access' variable which, it is argued, is likely to be more closely correlated with interest group power.