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.