Why interest organizations do what they do: Assessing the explanatory potential of exchange approaches

Executive Summary Important parts of the literature on strategies of interest organizations consider the political activities of interest organizations as serving to build and maintain exchange relationships between organizational representatives and constituents, policymakers and the news media. The incentive for organizational survival produces activities that links social and political domains. This review integrates various strands of existing thinking on interest groups under an ‘exchange’ perspective. It produces a view on interest organizations as being strategically strongly constrained through different demands made on the organization when engaging in relationships with supporters, policymakers and journalists. While challenging, research designs should account for the interrelated nature of these relationships rather than treating organizations as a strategically autonomous actors. Interest Groups & Advocacy (2013) 2, 227–250. doi:10.1057/iga.2013.6; published online 23 April 2013