Interest groups and lobbying in Latin America: theoretical and practical considerations

• Published date: 01 November 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1462
• Date: 01 November 2014

■Special Issue Paper

Interest groups and lobbying in Latin

America: theoretical and practical

considerations

Clive S. Thomas

1

*and Kristina Klimovich

2

1

Foley Institute, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

2

The New School, New York City, USA

The major purpose of this Special Issue is to provide the first comprehensive treatment of interest groups in

Latin America. This first article provides background to this end by defining key terms and concepts; explaining

the ubiquity of power groups, interests and interest groups in politics and government, and the fundamental elements

of an interest group system, relating all this to past characteristics of Latin America’s politics. Additionally, the article

identifies the reasons for the dearth of studies of interest groups in the region and makes the case for the value of such

studies. Drawing on this background, the article also sets out a heuristic for approaching the contributions to this

volume and for developing a theoretical framework for the analysis of Latin American interest group systems.

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

An enlightening approach for understanding how

any political system works and how power is

distributed within it is to study the activities of its

political interests and interests groups. Initially, we

can define an interest group as a collection of individ-

uals,organizations,or a public or private institution that

works to influence public policy in its favor.Studying

the role of interest groups certainly provides many

insights into Latin American politics. In fact, in

his introductory remarks to this volume, former

Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, comments on their

crucial role in the past and their contemporary and

future importance. Yet despite their central influence

in shaping political power relationships, interest

groups have been virtually ignored by scholars and

political observers analyzing Latin American politics,

government, and public policy-making.

The lack of an interest group perspective is

not only unfortunate for academic reasons but for

practical ones too. In particular, from a practical

political perspective, the form and extent of the

role of interest groups offers major insights into the

key contemporary question in Latin American

politics: Will liberal democracy be maintained and

consolidated or will parts or all of Latin America

return to some form of authoritarianism? In short,

and as the subtitle to this volume asks, is this a

new era or more of the same for the region in terms

of the activity of interest groups and their role in

promoting democracy?

Accordingly, this specialissue of the journal makes

the case for thevalue—the importance—of an interest

group perspectivefor understanding Latin American

politics and argues the case for interest group analy-

sis, in conjunction with other perspectives such as

that of political parties, legislatures, and executives,

as a key approach for analyzing and understanding

Latin American politics and policy-making. By draw-

ing on the expertise and various perspectives of 16

*Correspondence to: Clive S. Thomas, Thomas S. Foley Institute

for Public Policy and Public Service, WashingtonState University,

Pullman, WA 99164–5136, USA.

E-mail: CST3435@gmail.com

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 14 Number 3 pp 165–182 (2014)

Published online 15 August 2013 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1462

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholars andpractitioners from several LatinAmerica

countries, North America, Europe, Eastern Russia,

and New Zealand, the format and wide-range of

topics covered in this volume constitutes the first

comprehensive and systematic treatment of interest

groups across the region. As such, this volume has

both an academic and a practical value. It offers

insights to scholars in political science and related

fields, including a theoretical framework for under-

standing and analyzing group activity in the region

and its countries. Plus, because of its straightforward

writing style and background information, the vol-

ume will be of value to political practitioners, elected

and appointed, as well as political observers and

commentatorsand those doing business in the region

or who simply have an interestin Latin America and

want to understand its political dynamics.

The first section of this article explains key terms

and concepts and issues surrounding them. Then

we provide a brief overview of the elements of

interest group systems followed by initial insights

into how politics and government have affected

these systems in Latin America. The next two sec-

tions examine the reasons for the lack of focus on

group activity in Latin American politics and make

the case for using them as a tool of analysis. The last

four sections of the article provide information for

analyzing Latin American interest group systems.

This is done by outlining existing and related re-

search on the subject, providing a heuristic for

analyzing the articles in the volume, showing

how each article illustrates particular points regard-

ing group activity in the region, and finally by

explaining the link between this introductory article

and the concluding one for providing a framework

for analyzing Latin American interest groups.

DEALING WITH DEFINITIONAL ISSUES:

WORKING SOLUTIONS

A working definition of Latin America

There is a dispute among scholars as to what exactly

constitutes Latin America. Here, we use the standard

definition to include the 20 independent countries

that are heirs to the Latin and Iberian European

tradition (Spanish, Portuguese, and French). This

definition excludes the northern European heritages

of Britain and the Netherlands: countries and terri-

tories such as Belize (formerly British Honduras),

Jamaica, Trinidad, and Tobago, all with a British

heritage; and Surinam (formerly Dutch Guiana),

Aruba, and Saba, all with a Dutch heritage. Also,

those territories that have a Francophone heritage

but are not independent, s uch as French Guiana and

Guadeloupe (both overseas departments of France),

are excluded from our defining of Latin America.

Table 1 lists these twenty countries in alphabet-

ical order and by region. Virtually all the coun-

tries of the region are covered in some way in

this volume, with the exception of Cuba (as a

non-pluralist country).

The Latin American political context: working

definitions of key terms and concepts

Key terms and concepts

There is a perennial, often heated debate in various

subfields of political science as to the meaning of

terms and concepts. Terms ranging from power to

democracy to interest group, among many others,

are subject to varying definitions. So as a foundation

for exploring the role of interest groups in Latin

American politics, we need clarity and consistency

in our use of various terms and concepts. As a work-

ing solution, we provide two glossaries of terms.

Table 2 explains general concepts essential for

understanding the political environment in which

Latin American interest groups operate. Then, in the

next section, there is a glossary (Table 3) explaining

interest group terminology. Both tables can be

referred back to in readingthe various contributions.

Plus, some articles have their own explanations of

particular concepts and acronyms.

Table 1 The countries of Latin America: listed

alphabetically and by subregions

Alphabetical List Subregions

Argentina Mexico & Central

America

South America

Bolivia

Costa Rica

Argentina

Brazil

El Salvador

Bolivia

Chile

Guatemala

Brazil

Colombia

Honduras

Chile

Costa Rica

Mexico

Columbia

Cuba

Nicaragua

Ecuador

Dominican Republic

Panama

Paraguay

Ecuador Peru

El Salvador

The Caribbean

Uruguay

Guatemala

Cuba

Venezuela

Haiti

Dominican Republic

Honduras

Haiti

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Uruguay

Venezuela

Source: developed by the authors.

166 C. S. Thomas and K. Klimovich

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Public Affairs 14, 165–182 (2014)

DOI: 10.1002/pa