Abstract
The article focuses on the role of interest groups in policy making under conditions of globalisation. Building on the Stolper–Samuelson theorem from international trade theory, it has been argued in the literature that interest groups’ domestic political negotiation power varies with the mobility of their factor of production, and that therefore a policy shift towards the interests of capital owners (i.e. liberalisation of domestic regulations) should be observable. Drawing on empirical evidence from detailed case studies in the area of state banking regulation in the United States, Switzerland, and Spain, the article presents examples for bank associations and other representatives of the capital side to blocking or considerably delaying government-initiated attempts at liberalisation. It also demonstrates that the role of interest groups in policy making varies considerably between countries, and that therefore highly specific patterns of interaction exist between interest groups and national political systems. The article concludes therefore that the consideration of situation-specific context, rather than the use of generalising assumptions on a highly aggregated level, is called for in the analysis of interest group influence on policy making.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Année politique suisse (APS) (1965ff.) Année politique suisse/Schweizerische Politik, ed. by Forschungszentrum für Schweizerische Politik. Institut für Politische Wissenschaft, Bern
Bates RH, Greif A, Levi M, Rosenthal JL, Weingast BR (1998) Analytic Narratives. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Bovens M, ’t Hart P, Peters BG (eds) (2001) Success and failure in public governance: a comparative analysis. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Busch A (2001) Managing innovation: regulating the banking sector in a rapidly changing environment. In: Bovens M, ’t Hart P, Peters BG (eds) Success and failure in public governance: a comparative analysis. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 311–325
Busch A (2003) Staat und Globalisierung. Das Politikfeld Bankenregulierung im internationalen Vergleich. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden
Busch A (2007) Banking regulation and globalization. Oxford University Press, Oxford (forthcoming)
C&N (1990) Congress and the nation: a review of government and politics, vol VII. Congressional Quarterly, Washington, pp 1985–1988
Cohen BJ (1996) Phoenix risen: The resurrection of global finance. World Politics 48(1):268–296
Coleman WD (1994) Banking, interest intermediation and political power. a framework for comparative analysis. Euro J Polit Res 26(2):31–58
Czada R (1994) Konjunkturen des Korporatismus. In: Streeck W (ed) Staat und Verbände. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, pp 37–64
Dale R (1992) International Banking Deregulation. The Great Banking Experiment. Blackwell, Oxford
Frieden JA, Rogowski R (1996) The impact of the international economy on national policies: an analytical overview. In: Keohane RO, Milner HV (eds) Internationalization and domestic politics. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cambridge, pp 25–47
Gourevitch P (2002) Domestic politics and international relations. In: Carlsnaes W, Risse T, Simmons BA (eds) Handbook of international relations. SAGE, London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, pp 309–328
Hall PA (2003) Aligning ontology and methodology in comparative research. In: Mahoney J, Rueschemeyer D (eds) Comparative historical analysis in the social sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, pp 373–404
Hirszowicz C (1996) Schweizerische Bankpolitik. Haupt, Bern, Stuttgart, Wien
Kapstein EB (1994) Governing the Global Economy. International Finance and the State. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London
Kittel B (2006) A crazy methodology? On the limits of macro-quantitative social science research. Int Sociol 21(5):647–677
Lehmbruch G, Schmitter PC (1982) Patterns of corporatist policy-making. Sage modern politics series, vol 7. Sage Publications, London; Beverly Hills, California
Olson M (1968) Die Logik des kollektiven Handelns. Kollektivgüter und die Theorie der Gruppen. J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen
Olson M (1982) The rise and decline of nations. Economic growth, stagflation, and social rigidities. Yale University Press, New Haven, London
Pérez SA (1997) Banking on privilege. The politics of Spanish financial reform. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, London
Pérez SA (2001) The liberalization of finance in spain: from interventionism to the market. In: Bovens M, ’t Hart P, Peters BG (eds) Success and failure in public governance: a comparative analysis–Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 383–400
Pierce JL (1977) The FINE study. J Money Credit Bank 9(4):605–618
Pierson P (2004) Politics in time: history, institutions, and social analysis. Princeton University Press, Princeton, Oxford
Quinn D (1997) The correlates of change in international financial regulation. Am Polit Sci Rev 91(3):531–551
Reinicke W (1995) Banking, politics and global finance. American commercial banks and regulatory change 1980–1990. Elgar, Aldershot
Rogowski R (1987) Political cleavages and changing exposure to trade. Am Political Sci Rev 81(4):1121–1137
Rogowski R (1989) Commerce and coalitions: how trade affects domestic political alignments. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Schmitter PC, Lehmbruch G (1979) Trends toward corporatist intermediation. Contemporary political sociology, vol 1. Sage Publications, London; Beverly Hills
Spong K (1994) Banking regulation. Its purposes, implementation, and effects. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City
Streeck W, Schmitter PC (eds) (1985) Private interest government. Sage, London
Tsebelis G (2002) Veto players: how political institutions work. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ)
United States Department of the Treasury (1991) Modernizing the financial system: recommendations for safer, more competitive banks. Department of the Treasury, Washington
Worsham J (1997) Other people’s money: policy change, congress, and bank regulation. Westview Press, Boulder
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Busch, A. Confronting stylized facts with reality. Economics of Governance 8, 219–232 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-006-0028-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-006-0028-6