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Coalitional Lobbying and Intersectional Representation in American Rulemaking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

MARAAM A. DWIDAR Open the ORCID record for MARAAM A. DWIDAR [Opens in a new window]
MARAAM A. DWIDAR*
Affiliation:
Syracuse University, United States
*
Maraam A. Dwidar, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, United States, madwidar@maxwell.syr.edu.
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Abstract

Interest groups representing the marginalized regularly neglect advocacy on behalf of their most vulnerable constituents—those with intersectional disadvantage. Yet, they claim that such advocacy is central to their missions. I argue that interest groups representing women, people of color, Native nations, and the poor strategically conduct intersectional advocacy through coalitional lobbying. I test this claim using a new dataset of cosignature patterns within public comments on proposed federal agency rules submitted by a set of such groups between 2004 and 2014. I find that these groups are significantly more likely to pursue intersectional advocacy in coalitions but that coalition work, alone, does not relate to influential intersectional advocacy. Rather, it is particular coalition characteristics, including organizational diversity and financial capacity, that predict such influence. I conclude that collaborative lobbying is an effective tactic for mediating representational bias in interest group advocacy and promoting more pluralistic administrative policy making.

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Type
Research Article
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American Political Science Review , Volume 116 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 301 - 321
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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