Party strategies towards civil society in new democracies

Abstract

The aim of this article is twofold. First it sheds light on the types of relationship established by political parties with interest groups in new democracies through the identification of the strategies applied by parties towards civil society. Analysis of the Spanish case allows the mapping of three different strategies: the creation and/or sponsoring (of social organizations), penetration (infiltration of social organizations by party members or co-option of them for the party in central or in public office) and collaboration (creation of common forums for contact and action with social organizations). The article also discusses the rationales embedded in these strategies and how their use has changed over time and across parties. The second aim is to examine the environmental and party organizational factors that might explain the patterns revealed and to develop hypotheses on party strategies towards interest groups.