Formal ties between parliamentarians and interest groups

In most democracies, parliamentarians can have formal roles in interest group bodies. Particularly during the last 10 to 15 years, such formal ties started to garner more scientific and public attention. As this chapter highlights, this relates to the increased importance of parliaments for interest representation. Empirically, the relevance of formal ties is reflected in their high degree of regulation, as newly collected regulatory data on 35 European countries reveal. The chapter then discusses the functioning and impact of formal ties at the micro-level. Interest groups provide information, electoral support, personal financial benefits, and career opportunities. In exchange, parliamentarians offer direct and indirect parliamentary influence, and a strong signal to interest groups’ stakeholders and other actors. This not only has implications for parliamentarians and interest groups, but also leads to situations where parties and voters compete with interest groups for influence over parliamentarians.