Michele Crepaz
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 4097970 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Michele Crepaz |
| PRENOMES | Michele |
| SOBRENOME | Crepaz |
| ASSINATURA | CREPAZ M |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Trinity College Dublin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4139-1875 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 28 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 155 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 28 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2014 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
Staying alive
Well-functioning interest groups are essential for democracy, yet little is known about how groups cope with major disruptions in their environment. Using the seminal Energy-Stability-Area (ESA) model from population ecology theory, this study investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic affected organisations’ constituency interests (Area) and political access (Energy), resulting in different levels of instability experienced by individual groups. The…
Incremental lobbying reform
The regulation of lobbying serves the dual ambition of ensuring a level playing field for participation in policymaking while reducing risks of corruption and undue influence. International organisations, such as the EU, OECD and Council of Europe, have promoted this regulation by relying on such different agendas and frames. This variation is magnified within the Italian political system, where registers have been introduced in several instituti…
From policy access to lobbying influence
The Logic of Brokerage
Cooperation in lobbying is central to policymaking, and the formation of coalitions is a frequently used strategy by interest groups seeking to influence policy outcomes. While coalition formation between like-minded organizations is well documented, the literature has so far overlooked interest groups networking with groups that pursue opposed policy goals. In this article, we advance a novel theoretical proposition to explain an interest group’…
Structural lobbying power? An exploration of patterns in preference attainment at varying levels of lobbying activity
Studies of lobbying typically look at the extent to which interest groups realize political goals on issues they actively lobby for. Little is known, however, about the extent to which interest groups attain their political goals without making an active lobbying effort. In this paper, we analyze potential biases in perceived preference attainment at different levels of lobbying activity, including analyses among organizations which do not, or ha…
Going negative when spoiled for choice? Destabilizing and boomerang effects of negative political messaging in multiparty systems with multimember districts
Classical electoral behaviour theories have associated possible benefits of negative campaigning with two-party plurality systems due to their zero-sum nature. Nevertheless, negative campaigning is a widely used electoral strategy outside of these contexts, despite scant evidence of its benefits for political parties and candidates who employ it. Our research question is simple – is negative campaign messaging effective for attackers in multipart…
Lobbying transparency and attitudes towards interest groups
Despite the growing interest for lobbying in public opinion research, little is known about citizen’s attitudes towards interest groups, especially after legislation making lobbying transparent is passed. Using data from a pre-registered survey experiment conducted with a panel of 569 participants from the Republic of Ireland, this study shows that when exposed to information about lobbying conducted by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and b…
European union funding of interest groups
The question of the legitimacy of government funding of interest groups as a democratic practice has been extensively discussed by scholars. On the one hand, research suggests that well‐resourced interest groups are better equipped to capture European Union (EU) funds, raising some questions regarding the elitist character of the EU system of interest representation. On the other hand, EU funds have been found to address imbalances in the system …
The effects of transparency regulation on political trust and perceived corruption
Scholarly evidence of transparency's beneficial effects on trust and perceptions of corruption remains debated and confined to the study of public administration. We contribute to this debate by extending the study of its effects to transparency legislation concerning members of parliament (MPs), political parties, and business interest groups. In an online experiment conducted in Ireland with 1373 citizens, we find that transparency in political…
Cleaning Up UK Politics
The UK has a fragmented, partial and weak system of lobbying regulation. The system creates a self-reinforcing cycle of ‘exposure’ and worsening public attitudes. In order to make the case for reform and indicate possible paths, this article reviews the system’s faults and weaknesses and then analyses how the lack of political will for reform in Westminster has contributed to a transparency and integrity regime which falls below international sta…
Advocacy intelligence and competition
Advocacy intelligence is a critical organizational resource fostering long‐term survival and policy success. Policy‐active interest groups such as non‐profits, business associations and labor unions, seek to maintain their competitive advantage among peers and therefore have incentives to remain secretive about the details of their lobbying strategies and membership mobilization. We empirically evaluate this argument based on knowledge sharing in…
Understanding lobbying dynamics through survey research
This forum article provides an overview of the sampling and survey design of the publicly available InterCov dataset. The two-wave cross-country survey includes items on lobbying mobilisation, strategies, access and influence after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other measures of organisational factors. We discuss design choices considering our interest in lobbying dynamics following a focusing event, the responsiveness of organisatio…
Fight or flight
Central theories of public policy imply that lobbying is demand‐driven, meaning highly responsive to the levels of access that political gatekeepers offer to interest organizations. Others stress drivers at the supply side, especially the severity of disturbances which affect an organization's constituency. We test these central arguments explaining lobbying activities in a comparative survey experiment conducted in 10 polities in Europe. Our tre…
Online focus groups as a tool to study policy professionals
Scholars interested in political elites and policy professionals only sporadically rely on focus group methods. In this article, we argue why this is a missed opportunity. Based on our own recent research experience, we suggest three innovations to the focus group method that should make it appealing for political scientists who study professionals active in the policy process. First, focus groups allow for the study of the interactions between p…
Is There a First Mover Advantage in Lobbying? A Comparative Analysis of How the Timing of Mobilization Affects the Influence of Interest Groups in 10 Polities
The first mover advantage is a critical factor for the productivity of firms that enter new markets. Surprisingly, however, the importance of timing is rarely explored in studies of interest groups and their influence on new policy agendas. In this article, we therefore develop a theory of first mover advantages in lobbying. We argue that especially more resourceful and more highly affected organizations should be able to benefit from early lobby…
Interest group access to policymaking in Ireland
There are more than 2,000 interest groups in Ireland that play a key role in policy development. This paper explores which of these groups have access to Irish policymaking across various political arenas. It does so by examining original data from 2018, gained through large-N survey research on over 300 active interest groups, including business groups, firms, professional organisations, NGOs, citizen groups and consultancies. The analysis focus…
Changes in interest group access in times of crisis
The outbreak of Covid-19 provoked a massive shock for political institutions and societal groups. A crucial question is how such an external event affects the balance of access to political gatekeepers. In particular: Are organizations, which are highly affected by the crisis, able to increase their political voice? To address this, we focus on changes in lobbying access to key venues of public policy: government, parliament, the bureaucracy, and…
(Don’t) bite the hand that feeds you
In this study we test whether interest organizations that are confrontational towards EU institutions are less successful than their more cooperative counterparts in obtaining funding from the European Commission (EC). The transfer of public funds to interest organizations is a key dynamic in state-civil society relationships. Research shows that organizations, especially public groups, often heavily rely on public funds to the point that, withou…
Usability of transparency portals
Transparency in public institutions is relevant only in so far as the disclosed information is useful for the stakeholders who access it. Hence, we ask: what do users do with the information they obtain through transparency laws? Despite the growing interest in transparency research, the ways transparency portals are used to gather information remain strikingly understudied. We study the use of proactively and reactively disclosed information und…
A golden key can open any door? Public funding and interest groups’ access
Are government funds an opportunity or a threat to interest groups’ participation in policy-making? In answering this question, previous research has raised the question of the interrelatedness between access to policymakers and funding of interest groups’ activities. A popular argument represents funding opportunities as inhibitors of interest group access to policy-making because of the funds’ negative effect on an organization’s autonomy. In o…
How parties and interest groups protect their ties
Scholars have recently shown renewed interest in the study of party‐interest group ties. According to previous studies, traditional ties between parties and organized interest are a matter of the past. Globalization, deindustrialization, and neoliberalism have posed serious challenges to their survival. Recent contributions suggest that, while these ties are indeed weaker than before, they have not disappeared. How do parties and groups protect t…
The funding of interest groups in the EU
Governmental subsidies are demand-side factors, which allow governments to ‘mould’ interest group communities. The EU is the worlds’ largest donor and has claimed to use public funds to promote the participation of organized interests in public policy. Previous studies found support for this claim and concluded that EU subsidies help to alleviate existing biases in the system of interest intermediation. In this article, we challenge these finding…
To inform, strategise, collaborate, or compete
Governments claim to establish lobbying registers with the intent of giving citizens and the media the opportunity to see who is lobbying whom and for what purpose. This external scrutiny is expected to help prevent undue influence and corruption. Scholars, however, have noted that transparency might also serve internal scrutinizers by providing information to the lobbyists themselves. This study employed a survey of more than 300 interest groups…
Regulating Lobbying
Assessing the validity and reliability of measurements when evaluating public policy
A substantial aspect of scientific research involves linking concepts to observations using measurements. This exercise has raised questions among researchers of whether or not measurements “truly” and “reliably” capture ideas and observations. We address this question by setting out a methodological standard on how to assess the validity and reliability of measurements. We do this by examining measurements that evaluate public policy, arguing th…
Changes in interest group access in times of crisis
The outbreak of Covid-19 provoked a massive shock for political institutions and societal groups. A crucial question is how such an external event affects the balance of access to political gatekeepers. In particular: Are organizations, which are highly affected by the crisis, able to increase their political voice? To address this, we focus on changes in lobbying access to key venues of public policy: government, parliament, the bureaucracy, and…
Why do we have lobbying rules? Investigating the introduction of lobbying laws in EU and OECD member states
The funding of interest groups in the EU
Governmental subsidies are demand-side factors, which allow governments to ‘mould’ interest group communities. The EU is the worlds’ largest donor and has claimed to use public funds to promote the participation of organized interests in public policy. Previous studies found support for this claim and concluded that EU subsidies help to alleviate existing biases in the system of interest intermediation. In this article, we challenge these finding…
The effects of transparency regulation on political trust and perceived corruption
Scholarly evidence of transparency's beneficial effects on trust and perceptions of corruption remains debated and confined to the study of public administration. We contribute to this debate by extending the study of its effects to transparency legislation concerning members of parliament (MPs), political parties, and business interest groups. In an online experiment conducted in Ireland with 1373 citizens, we find that transparency in political…
Investigating the robustness of lobbying laws
Is There a First Mover Advantage in Lobbying? A Comparative Analysis of How the Timing of Mobilization Affects the Influence of Interest Groups in 10 Polities
The first mover advantage is a critical factor for the productivity of firms that enter new markets. Surprisingly, however, the importance of timing is rarely explored in studies of interest groups and their influence on new policy agendas. In this article, we therefore develop a theory of first mover advantages in lobbying. We argue that especially more resourceful and more highly affected organizations should be able to benefit from early lobby…
To inform, strategise, collaborate, or compete
Governments claim to establish lobbying registers with the intent of giving citizens and the media the opportunity to see who is lobbying whom and for what purpose. This external scrutiny is expected to help prevent undue influence and corruption. Scholars, however, have noted that transparency might also serve internal scrutinizers by providing information to the lobbyists themselves. This study employed a survey of more than 300 interest groups…
How parties and interest groups protect their ties
Scholars have recently shown renewed interest in the study of party‐interest group ties. According to previous studies, traditional ties between parties and organized interest are a matter of the past. Globalization, deindustrialization, and neoliberalism have posed serious challenges to their survival. Recent contributions suggest that, while these ties are indeed weaker than before, they have not disappeared. How do parties and groups protect t…
Assessing the validity and reliability of measurements when evaluating public policy
A substantial aspect of scientific research involves linking concepts to observations using measurements. This exercise has raised questions among researchers of whether or not measurements “truly” and “reliably” capture ideas and observations. We address this question by setting out a methodological standard on how to assess the validity and reliability of measurements. We do this by examining measurements that evaluate public policy, arguing th…
Usability of transparency portals
Transparency in public institutions is relevant only in so far as the disclosed information is useful for the stakeholders who access it. Hence, we ask: what do users do with the information they obtain through transparency laws? Despite the growing interest in transparency research, the ways transparency portals are used to gather information remain strikingly understudied. We study the use of proactively and reactively disclosed information und…
Advocacy intelligence and competition
Advocacy intelligence is a critical organizational resource fostering long‐term survival and policy success. Policy‐active interest groups such as non‐profits, business associations and labor unions, seek to maintain their competitive advantage among peers and therefore have incentives to remain secretive about the details of their lobbying strategies and membership mobilization. We empirically evaluate this argument based on knowledge sharing in…
Understanding lobbying dynamics through survey research
This forum article provides an overview of the sampling and survey design of the publicly available InterCov dataset. The two-wave cross-country survey includes items on lobbying mobilisation, strategies, access and influence after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other measures of organisational factors. We discuss design choices considering our interest in lobbying dynamics following a focusing event, the responsiveness of organisatio…
Fight or flight
Central theories of public policy imply that lobbying is demand‐driven, meaning highly responsive to the levels of access that political gatekeepers offer to interest organizations. Others stress drivers at the supply side, especially the severity of disturbances which affect an organization's constituency. We test these central arguments explaining lobbying activities in a comparative survey experiment conducted in 10 polities in Europe. Our tre…
Interest group access to policymaking in Ireland
There are more than 2,000 interest groups in Ireland that play a key role in policy development. This paper explores which of these groups have access to Irish policymaking across various political arenas. It does so by examining original data from 2018, gained through large-N survey research on over 300 active interest groups, including business groups, firms, professional organisations, NGOs, citizen groups and consultancies. The analysis focus…
Cleaning Up UK Politics
The UK has a fragmented, partial and weak system of lobbying regulation. The system creates a self-reinforcing cycle of ‘exposure’ and worsening public attitudes. In order to make the case for reform and indicate possible paths, this article reviews the system’s faults and weaknesses and then analyses how the lack of political will for reform in Westminster has contributed to a transparency and integrity regime which falls below international sta…
A golden key can open any door? Public funding and interest groups’ access
Are government funds an opportunity or a threat to interest groups’ participation in policy-making? In answering this question, previous research has raised the question of the interrelatedness between access to policymakers and funding of interest groups’ activities. A popular argument represents funding opportunities as inhibitors of interest group access to policy-making because of the funds’ negative effect on an organization’s autonomy. In o…
Structural lobbying power? An exploration of patterns in preference attainment at varying levels of lobbying activity
Studies of lobbying typically look at the extent to which interest groups realize political goals on issues they actively lobby for. Little is known, however, about the extent to which interest groups attain their political goals without making an active lobbying effort. In this paper, we analyze potential biases in perceived preference attainment at different levels of lobbying activity, including analyses among organizations which do not, or ha…
Online focus groups as a tool to study policy professionals
Scholars interested in political elites and policy professionals only sporadically rely on focus group methods. In this article, we argue why this is a missed opportunity. Based on our own recent research experience, we suggest three innovations to the focus group method that should make it appealing for political scientists who study professionals active in the policy process. First, focus groups allow for the study of the interactions between p…
Lobbying transparency and attitudes towards interest groups
Despite the growing interest for lobbying in public opinion research, little is known about citizen’s attitudes towards interest groups, especially after legislation making lobbying transparent is passed. Using data from a pre-registered survey experiment conducted with a panel of 569 participants from the Republic of Ireland, this study shows that when exposed to information about lobbying conducted by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and b…
The EU’s initiatives to regulate lobbyists
El Registro conjunto de transparencia (JTR) representa un cambio positivo con respecto a sus predecesores que puede explicarse basándose en el “aprendizaje de normas/legislaciones”. En este artículo apoyamos dicho argumento, proporcionando resultados en dos dimensiones: en primer lugar, midiendo la fuerza de la ley de ‘lobbying’ en la UE en comparación con otros sistemas políticos donde se ha promulgado dicha ley. Nuestro estudio indica que los i…
Investigating the robustness of lobbying laws
Why do we have lobbying rules? Investigating the introduction of lobbying laws in EU and OECD member states
Assessing the validity and reliability of measurements when evaluating public policy
A substantial aspect of scientific research involves linking concepts to observations using measurements. This exercise has raised questions among researchers of whether or not measurements “truly” and “reliably” capture ideas and observations. We address this question by setting out a methodological standard on how to assess the validity and reliability of measurements. We do this by examining measurements that evaluate public policy, arguing th…
Regulating Lobbying
The funding of interest groups in the EU
Governmental subsidies are demand-side factors, which allow governments to ‘mould’ interest group communities. The EU is the worlds’ largest donor and has claimed to use public funds to promote the participation of organized interests in public policy. Previous studies found support for this claim and concluded that EU subsidies help to alleviate existing biases in the system of interest intermediation. In this article, we challenge these finding…
To inform, strategise, collaborate, or compete
Governments claim to establish lobbying registers with the intent of giving citizens and the media the opportunity to see who is lobbying whom and for what purpose. This external scrutiny is expected to help prevent undue influence and corruption. Scholars, however, have noted that transparency might also serve internal scrutinizers by providing information to the lobbyists themselves. This study employed a survey of more than 300 interest groups…
Usability of transparency portals
Transparency in public institutions is relevant only in so far as the disclosed information is useful for the stakeholders who access it. Hence, we ask: what do users do with the information they obtain through transparency laws? Despite the growing interest in transparency research, the ways transparency portals are used to gather information remain strikingly understudied. We study the use of proactively and reactively disclosed information und…
A golden key can open any door? Public funding and interest groups’ access
Are government funds an opportunity or a threat to interest groups’ participation in policy-making? In answering this question, previous research has raised the question of the interrelatedness between access to policymakers and funding of interest groups’ activities. A popular argument represents funding opportunities as inhibitors of interest group access to policy-making because of the funds’ negative effect on an organization’s autonomy. In o…
How parties and interest groups protect their ties
Scholars have recently shown renewed interest in the study of party‐interest group ties. According to previous studies, traditional ties between parties and organized interest are a matter of the past. Globalization, deindustrialization, and neoliberalism have posed serious challenges to their survival. Recent contributions suggest that, while these ties are indeed weaker than before, they have not disappeared. How do parties and groups protect t…
Interest group access to policymaking in Ireland
There are more than 2,000 interest groups in Ireland that play a key role in policy development. This paper explores which of these groups have access to Irish policymaking across various political arenas. It does so by examining original data from 2018, gained through large-N survey research on over 300 active interest groups, including business groups, firms, professional organisations, NGOs, citizen groups and consultancies. The analysis focus…
Changes in interest group access in times of crisis
The outbreak of Covid-19 provoked a massive shock for political institutions and societal groups. A crucial question is how such an external event affects the balance of access to political gatekeepers. In particular: Are organizations, which are highly affected by the crisis, able to increase their political voice? To address this, we focus on changes in lobbying access to key venues of public policy: government, parliament, the bureaucracy, and…
(Don’t) bite the hand that feeds you
In this study we test whether interest organizations that are confrontational towards EU institutions are less successful than their more cooperative counterparts in obtaining funding from the European Commission (EC). The transfer of public funds to interest organizations is a key dynamic in state-civil society relationships. Research shows that organizations, especially public groups, often heavily rely on public funds to the point that, withou…
Online focus groups as a tool to study policy professionals
Scholars interested in political elites and policy professionals only sporadically rely on focus group methods. In this article, we argue why this is a missed opportunity. Based on our own recent research experience, we suggest three innovations to the focus group method that should make it appealing for political scientists who study professionals active in the policy process. First, focus groups allow for the study of the interactions between p…
Is There a First Mover Advantage in Lobbying? A Comparative Analysis of How the Timing of Mobilization Affects the Influence of Interest Groups in 10 Polities
The first mover advantage is a critical factor for the productivity of firms that enter new markets. Surprisingly, however, the importance of timing is rarely explored in studies of interest groups and their influence on new policy agendas. In this article, we therefore develop a theory of first mover advantages in lobbying. We argue that especially more resourceful and more highly affected organizations should be able to benefit from early lobby…
Going negative when spoiled for choice? Destabilizing and boomerang effects of negative political messaging in multiparty systems with multimember districts
Classical electoral behaviour theories have associated possible benefits of negative campaigning with two-party plurality systems due to their zero-sum nature. Nevertheless, negative campaigning is a widely used electoral strategy outside of these contexts, despite scant evidence of its benefits for political parties and candidates who employ it. Our research question is simple – is negative campaign messaging effective for attackers in multipart…
Lobbying transparency and attitudes towards interest groups
Despite the growing interest for lobbying in public opinion research, little is known about citizen’s attitudes towards interest groups, especially after legislation making lobbying transparent is passed. Using data from a pre-registered survey experiment conducted with a panel of 569 participants from the Republic of Ireland, this study shows that when exposed to information about lobbying conducted by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and b…
European union funding of interest groups
The question of the legitimacy of government funding of interest groups as a democratic practice has been extensively discussed by scholars. On the one hand, research suggests that well‐resourced interest groups are better equipped to capture European Union (EU) funds, raising some questions regarding the elitist character of the EU system of interest representation. On the other hand, EU funds have been found to address imbalances in the system …
The effects of transparency regulation on political trust and perceived corruption
Scholarly evidence of transparency's beneficial effects on trust and perceptions of corruption remains debated and confined to the study of public administration. We contribute to this debate by extending the study of its effects to transparency legislation concerning members of parliament (MPs), political parties, and business interest groups. In an online experiment conducted in Ireland with 1373 citizens, we find that transparency in political…
Cleaning Up UK Politics
The UK has a fragmented, partial and weak system of lobbying regulation. The system creates a self-reinforcing cycle of ‘exposure’ and worsening public attitudes. In order to make the case for reform and indicate possible paths, this article reviews the system’s faults and weaknesses and then analyses how the lack of political will for reform in Westminster has contributed to a transparency and integrity regime which falls below international sta…
Advocacy intelligence and competition
Advocacy intelligence is a critical organizational resource fostering long‐term survival and policy success. Policy‐active interest groups such as non‐profits, business associations and labor unions, seek to maintain their competitive advantage among peers and therefore have incentives to remain secretive about the details of their lobbying strategies and membership mobilization. We empirically evaluate this argument based on knowledge sharing in…
Understanding lobbying dynamics through survey research
This forum article provides an overview of the sampling and survey design of the publicly available InterCov dataset. The two-wave cross-country survey includes items on lobbying mobilisation, strategies, access and influence after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other measures of organisational factors. We discuss design choices considering our interest in lobbying dynamics following a focusing event, the responsiveness of organisatio…
Fight or flight
Central theories of public policy imply that lobbying is demand‐driven, meaning highly responsive to the levels of access that political gatekeepers offer to interest organizations. Others stress drivers at the supply side, especially the severity of disturbances which affect an organization's constituency. We test these central arguments explaining lobbying activities in a comparative survey experiment conducted in 10 polities in Europe. Our tre…
Incremental lobbying reform
The regulation of lobbying serves the dual ambition of ensuring a level playing field for participation in policymaking while reducing risks of corruption and undue influence. International organisations, such as the EU, OECD and Council of Europe, have promoted this regulation by relying on such different agendas and frames. This variation is magnified within the Italian political system, where registers have been introduced in several instituti…
From policy access to lobbying influence
Political science (25 obras) · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies (23 obras) · Law (20 obras) · Law (19 obras) · Politics (19 obras) · Public relations (16 obras) · Economics (14 obras) · Business (13 obras) · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering (13 obras) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (9 obras)