ABSTRACT
The sixth chapter empirically verifies why interest groups are more or less reactive at the European level. It categorises groups along two clusters: one cluster with groups with limited member involvement and one cluster with groups with extensive member involvement. Once groups have been clustered, the chapter analyses the empirical material for each step of the causal mechanisms and assesses whether the two mechanisms hold for a most diverse set of interest groups. The argument guiding the empirical analysis in this chapter is that internal decision-making processes (‘How a group manages to define a position?’) affect the locus of the conflict between the group and the members. If conflict with members is located inside the organisation, this leads to a low level of reactivity. However, faster reactivity comes at the cost of higher competition and conflict with these same members in the European arena.
