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ACTIVISM AND REPRESENTATION IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP: THE CASE OF THE ALBERTA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION
Author(s) -
Archer Keith,
Alford Janet
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
southeastern political review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 0730-2177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.1997.tb00455.x
Subject(s) - wilderness , representation (politics) , politics , interest group , public interest , citizen journalism , character (mathematics) , political science , association (psychology) , special interest group , public administration , public relations , epistemology , law , ecology , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , biology
How representative are public interest groups? The growth in the size and stature of public interest groups over the past generation has given rise to questions about their representative character. One of the complaints often leveled against political parties is their failure to adequately represent the interests of their constituents. A paradox is that interest groups, including public interest groups, are becoming more popular despite the lack of participatory mechanisms in their internal structures. This article uses the Alberta Wilderness Association (A WA) as a case study to examine political representation in public interest groups. It draws upon and elaborates the arguments of Hanna Pitkin and Andrew McFarland in describing the multi‐dimensional character of interest representation, and applies the framework to a study of members and leaders in the A WA. The evidence confirms that attitudes toward representation exist in relatively discrete, independent dimensions, and for public interest groups these attitudes are relatively unrelated to mechanisms of formal representation.