Die Vertretung von sozial benachteiligten Bevölkerungsgruppen im Gesetzgebungsprozess

This article draws on scholarly debates concerning the influence of welfare associations on policy making and examines how the so-called “weak” interests of marginalised groups are represented during legislative processes. The authors analyse the submissions made by representatives of weak interest groups to draft bills and their discussion in public hearings of the parliamentary committee for work and social affairs. This shows a heterogeneous landscape of representative actors which goes far beyond the usual relevance of subject-specific alliance of interest groups, namely the big welfare associations and includes diverse social interest organisations. Advocacy coalitions between different interest organisations can be identified. Furthermore, it is shown that legislative processes are either receptive or dismissive of outside expertise, depending on the topic. The article thus identifies difficulties and opportunities for social interest representation in legislative processes.