The Organization Ecology of Interest Communities ― Assessment and Agenda

The organization ecology approach to the study of interest representation and lobbying is now almost two decades old, and a substantial body of theoretical and empirical work in both the United States and Europe has developed using this approach.

Critically assessing this body of work, this collection summarises the origins and development of this research program, grounding it more firmly in the larger literature on organization ecology. It provides critical assessments of this literature from those working outside of its theoretical and empirical confines to respond to those critics and to outline an agenda for research for the future using the organization ecology approach to interest representation.

The contributions to the book provide a review of the research program for those using organization ecology to study interest representation, outlines how it contributes to the larger body of work on both interest representation and organization ecology, and encourages future research on interest representation from a community-level perspective.

Darren R. Halpin is Professor, and Head of the School of Sociology, at the Research School of Social Sciences, the Australian National University. He is co-editor of the journal Interest Groups and Advocacy and the Foundation Series Editor for the book series Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy (Palgrave, UK). His recent work includes Groups, Representation and Democracy (2010) and The Organization of Political Interest Groups (2014).

David Lowery is the Bruce R. Miller and Dean D. LaVigne Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University, USA. Dr. Lowery teaches and conducts research on the politics of interest representation and bureaucratic politics. He has co-authored The Politics of Dissatisfaction, The Population Ecology of Interest Representation, and Organized Interests in American Politics.

Virginia Gray is the Winston Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. She teaches and does research on state politics, public policy, and interest groups. She has published numerous articles and books on these topics, including The Population Ecology of Interest Representation (1996) and Interest Groups and Health Care Reform across the United States (2013).