Dead or Alive? Explaining the Long-Term Survival Chances of Interest Groups

Interest groups are crucial for the representation of interests in politics. An important aspect is not only which groups are formed, but also which groups survive over time. This paper outlines and empirically investigates hypotheses about which factors explain interest group survival. The empirical literature on survival has been limited by the lack of actual survival data and has instead relied on self-assessment data on the likelihood of survival. The article examines survival using a unique dataset that covers a population of interest groups, spans over three decades (1976–2010), and contains data on interest group characteristics and information about whether the groups survived. As expected, resources such as members and employees increase the probability of survival. However, a privileged position in the decision-making process, a largely neglected factor in previous studies, also affects survival. This implies that insider groups are likely to be overrepresented in interest group populations.