Contracting conservation: changing the relationship between government and conservation interest groups in New Zealand

Abstract

In 1964 Theodore Lowi suggested a new way of thinking about the way that interest groups and governmental decision-makers interact with each other. Rather than seek a single, overarching theory of interest group behaviour, he argued that these relationships vary according to whether a policy's effects are felt by individuals, groups or entire social classes. Since the extent to which policy effects can be disaggregated will vary from issue to issue, so too will the relationship between groups and government. It seems reasonable to suggest that group-government power relationships will be influenced not only by the policy type involved, but also by the specific institutional arrangements that have been established by government for managing different policy issues. This study explores how changing the institutional arrangements for managing public conservation could profoundly affect the power relationship between government and the interest groups that have formed to promote this cause.