ABSTRACT
‘Interests’ in West European Politics – in practice or in the journal – purport to explain everything and, therefore, they do not explain anything. Scratch the surface of almost any WEP article and you will find that the answer to ‘why did he or she act politically?’ will usually be: ‘because it was in his or her interest to do sO'. Ask ‘why did he or she have such an interest in the first place?’ or, even worse, ‘why did he or she think that such an action or policy would eventually lead to the satisfaction of that interest?’ and you will only rarely get a convincing answer.
