Call for proposals

Interest groups in the 21st century in France and Europe
An inter-disciplinary perspective

Paris, 24 & 25 September 2004
Venue: Sciences Po

The deadline for submission of proposals (300 words max.) is 10 May 2004

This conference seeks to provide a general perspective on the role of interest groups as political actors in the age of globalisation and European integration. Interest groups are still often considered as contrary to the general interest. However, the mushrooming of their number in the European Union, but also in France calls for a in-depth analysis. We want to concentrate in particular on the evolution of interest groups: their organisational structure, their resources and capacities.

In order to remedy the great fragmentation of scientific contributions to this topic, this conference aims at bringing together researchers from various fields (management sciences, political science, economics, sociology, law or other disciplines). We hope that this encounter may yield fruitful confrontations of diverging theoretical perspectives, but also different empirical data, allowing for a high-level exchange.

We encourage proposals in the following three areas:

• France: towards the « normalisation » of interest groups?
  The number of publications on French interest groups as such remains very low, as compared to neighbouring countries. However, the growth of the number of interest groups and the transformation of state-group relationships is forcing researchers to increasingly rediscover interest groups, in particular through studies on “organised civil society”, there has been a steady increase of organised interests of all kinds. This conference attempts to deepen existing research agendas and confront studies on “civil society” with those on “interest groups”. We therefore encourage proposals with a comparative dimension, including other EU member states or the US. We adopt a deliberately large definition of interest groups, based on the objectives of interest group action – influencing political decisions on a given subject – rather than on organisational characteristics. From that point of view, very different actors may at some point use lobbying techniques: individual firms, professional organisations, political associations, NGO’s or even public administrations.
• Interest groups and the European Union
  The objective here is to explore two main areas of research. On the one hand, papers are expected to study the contribution of interest groups to European governance. A central topic here should be the question of if and how interest groups may contribute to the democratisation of the European polity, both through participation and expertise. This may build on the legitimacy of associative actors and their particular legitimacy and knowledge. This would allow understanding the potential of this type of representation and its capacity to diminish, at least partially, the democratic deficit. On the other hand, we encourage contributions on the impact of European integration on national systems of interest intermediation. Confronted with European integration, national interest groups face pressure to adapt, as well as changing conditions at the national level.
• Interest groups in the age of globalisation
  This last topic is to study the joint impact and the logic of two rather antagonistic developments. First, economic interest groups, facing transnational political arenas, join and organise more and more frequently at a global level. Research needs to address the preconditions of global collective action - the incentives, the obstacles – and elaborate new explanatory models. Second, the phenomenon of anti-globalisation movements calls fore a similar effort of explanation. We encourage proposals trying to put both topics in perspective and to show the differences, as well as the similarities.

Scientific Committee : Nicolas Dahan (Université Marne-La-Vallée), Emiliano Grossman (CEVIPOF, Paris), Christian Lequesne (CEFRES, Prague), Sabine Saurugger (IEP de Grenoble), Vivien Schmidt (Boston University), Ezra Suleiman (Princeton University)

The deadline for submission of proposals (300 words max.) is 10 May 2004 Decisions will be taken in the week of 17 May 2004 and emails will be sent out immediately after.

Proposals should be submitted by mail to one of the three convenors :

• Nicolas Dahan : nicolas.dahan@noos.fr
• Emiliano Grossman : emiliano.grossman@sciences-po.fr
• Sabine Saurugger : amadisdudu@infonie.fr

Paper-givers will pay their travel and accommodation expenses. Travel and accommodation arrangements are made by participants. The organisers will provide a list of hotels in June. There is no conference fee.

Paper-givers must commit to submitting their papers by 1 September 2004, so that organisers can distribute them to panel discussants and attendees before the Conference day. Papers-givers will have only a relatively short presentation time on the Conference day and priority will then be given to panel discussion.

For any other question, do not hesitate to contact the convenors or: