This book analyzes the influence of business in democratic politics. Advice from business actors regularly carries more weight with policymakers than other interests because it refers to the core of the state-market nexus in democratic capitalism: the consequences for voters and policymakers of harming business and the economy. The book examines the resulting informational and structural constraints on public policymaking and their strategic use by business lobbyists.

While the role of information is frequently acknowledged in studies on business political influence, very few empirical analyses of its strategic use exist. This book outlines a theoretical model of the role of information and its asymmetric supply for business actors ability to influence policy. Focusing on banking regulation and environmental politics, the informational structural view of business power is evaluated empirically in a cross-national, multi-level research design involving case studies as well as quantitative analyses of elite survey data and policy outcomes in advanced capitalist democracies.

Patrick Bernhagen suggests that, while democracy in capitalist society is vulnerable to a pro-business policy bias, better informed policymakers can redress the balance of power with business and improve on bringing policies in line with public preferences. His analysis identifies the institutional and behavioural factors affecting business informational power. The Political Power of Business will be of particular interest to students and researchers of political science, policymaking and business studies."

Do corporations wield power over democratic politics? If so, how do they achieve this? And if business interests are so powerful, why do they sometimes seem to lose political battles?

Seeking answers these questions, the book investigates how business lobbyists employ in their political strategies privately held information about the likely effects of public policy. At the core of the book is a theoretical model that explains political influence as a function of in-formational and structural constraints on public policymaking. The central hypothesis is that advice from business interests systematically carries more weight with policymakers than other organized groups, because only information conveyed by business regularly addresses factors located the heart of the state-market nexus in democratic capitalist systems: the costs to policymakers that result from harming business, the economy, and, by implication, the economic basis of the state and the wellbeing of the electorate. Focusing on banking regulation and environmental politics, the model is tested empirically in a cross-national, triangulated research design involving a case study, a micro-quantitative analysis of elite survey data, and a macro-quantitative analysis of policy outcomes in twenty-three advanced industrialized countries.

This book examines to what extent business can get what it wants politically because firms and trade associations often know better how to assess the likely effects of policy than politicians and because firms' commercial, technical and investment decisions partly determine these effects. It will be of strong interest to students and researchers of political science, policymaking andbusiness studies.

In a pilot study, Bernhagen and Kybelka used supervised machine learning to retrieve and classify news reporting in France, Germany and the UK on the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. To analyze the framing in the media reports, they distinguish a human impact frame from an economic consequences frame. The first focuses primarily on the direct personal consequences of the pandemic, such as severe symptoms and loss of life. The second frame draws attention to the economic fallout of both the pandemic and the public policy measures implemented to contain it. The authors test the model empirically using data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and data from British, French, and German newspaper articles on the pandemic. A comparison of the distribution of the frames between the three countries has shown, firstly, that the human impact frame is dominant in all three countries, while the economic consequences frame is particularly frequent in France. Controlling for effects of infection and death rates, the findings from the pilot study suggest a positive influence of media reporting employing the human impact frame on subsequent restrictive regulations in Germany. By contrast, neither the human impact frame nor the economic consequences frame served to predict policy change in France or the United Kingdom. The authors model the relationship between the pandemic, public opinion, policy responses and media reporting and test the model using data from France, Germany and the UK. Corona, the Lockdown and the Media: A Quantitative Frame Analysis of Media Coverage and Restrictive Policy Responses will form the basis of future research and action by policy-makers.

Democratization is the most comprehensive volume on this critical field of contemporary politics, with insightful coverage of the key theories, actors, dynamics, and developments. This authoritative guide brings together leading experts from diverse international backgrounds, including some of the best known names in the field, making it an invaluable resource to students of democratization. This second edition reflects the dramatic changes in today's political world, with empirical coverage of developments on every continent. It considers the role of new technologies, including a dedicated chapter on social media and democratization, as well as the resilience of authoritarianism and renewed antidemocratic tendencies in many parts of the world. The book is accompanied by a range of online resources designed to support both students and lecturers. For students: - Revise key terms and test your knowledge of terminology from the book with our digital flashcard glossary. - Expand your knowledge of key developments in world affairs with additional case studies. - Take your learning further with links to reliable web content and relevant OUP journals. For registered adopters of the textbook: - Guide class debate with suggested seminar questions and activities. - Adapt PowerPoint(R) slides as a basis for lecture presentations, or use as handouts in class.

Many citizens, politicians, and political activists voice concern about the political influence of business in the European Union (EU). But do business interests really pull the strings in Brussels? Contrary to expectations, this book shows that business is no more influential than other interests in shaping contemporary EU policies. Andreas Dur, David Marshall, and Patrick Bernhagen present an original argument that stresses the role of public actors in facilitating or impeding interest groups' lobbying success. Novel data on a large number of legislative proposals on the EU's agenda, and three case studies present strong support for this argument. In this process, The Political Influence of Business in the European Union offers new insights into how lobbying success depends on the demand and supply of information as well as new ideas on how to measure lobbying success. The book advances a fresh perspective on the question of business power and on why business interests often lose in the policy struggle.