Risk, Uncertainty and Interest Coalitions: A Study of US Healthcare Policy

• In Event: Poster Session: Political Organizations and Parties & Elections and Voting Behavior
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Political Parties and Interest Groups

Abstract

This paper studies how interest groups in the US evaluate political risk and what tactics they use to mitigate the effects of policy outcomes pursued without perfect information. It proposes first to define the concept of political risk as applied to interest groups and incorporate that definition into their rational calculus of which policies to support and pursue within a lobbying coalition. By creating a risk index comprised of four components, we synthesize the standing scholarship as well as provide a new measure for application towards long unanswered questions in the literature. Then, combining congressional data with group data from Crosson and Heaney (2017) regarding healthcare policy, the project aims to operationalize the rational calculus interest groups must develop when deciding to lobby in coalitions or go-it-alone, with the key variable of interest focusing on the risk and uncertainty associated with the policy.

Author

• Laila F. Sorurbakhsh, University of Houston-Downtown