Pluralism and the New Corporatism

There has recently been a revival of interest in the notion of ‘corporatism’, with particular reference to its application in the context of liberal democratic political systems. The principal authors of this revival have depicted ‘liberal corporatism’ as involving relations between government and interest groups that are radically different from those characteristic of ‘pluralism’. However, deficiencies in their definition of liberal corporatism and shortcomings in their perception of pluralism point to a different conclusion.