Comparing Four Cases of Lobbying for New Modes of Governance

Abstract

This chapter compares the findings of the empirical chapters and answers three theoretical questions. First, it discusses under what configuration of policy-making conditions interest groups can be expected to lobby in favour of, or instead against, a recursive governance framework. These policy-making conditions refer to the three scope conditions for recursive governance and to the presence of institutional arrangements for policy implementation. Secondly, I discuss under which conditions interest groups can be expected to actually participate in the implementation as expected on paper. These conditions concern the presence of official implementation institutions and the enforcement of policy implementation from the Commission. Thirdly, the chapter discusses how interest-group behaviour can both positively and negatively affect the shape and functioning of the (experimentalist) governance framework.