Theoretical Implications of EU Funding of Advocacy Activities

Sanchez Salgado discusses theoretical models on the European Union (EU) system of interest representation, arguing that public funding should be included in any effort at theorization. For the moment, pluralism and neo-pluralism are the mainstream models to illustrate current systems of interest representation. Sanchez Salgado argues that other models such as elitism, neo-corporatism, and associative democracy should also be included in current research and academic discussions, especially when EU funding is taken into account. With some illustrative evidence from the EU system, the chapter shows that, given the existence of an extensive system of public support of advocacy activities, associative democracy seems to be the theoretical model that applies to a greater amount of policy sectors at the EU level. Rather than proposing any specific theoretical model, this chapters suggests that it is difficult a priori to have a definitive preference regarding the role of public authorities and public funding in a system of interest representation.