Interest Groups and Political Integration: British Entry into Europe

This article analyzes the influence of interest groups in the formation of British policy toward participation in European unity From the important theoretical literature bearing on the subject, it derives and tests two hypotheses relating group behavior to the political integration process. The hypothesis imputed to the group politics approach holds that if interest groups influence policy formation, then progress toward integration is likely to be impeded. The hypothesis suggested by an extension of the functionalist approach implies that if interest groups influence policy formation, then progress toward integration is likely to be facilitated. The data indicate a confirmation of the first hypothesis and a rejection of the second. Groups were unfavorable toward European unity for both organizational and economic reasons. They restrained Britain's movement toward participation in integrated European ventures until the onset of effective politicization. Then the introduction of broadly conceived national interest considerations displaced cost-benefit calculations as the criteria for judgment and diminished the groups' influence. At least in the task of enlarging a geographic area of integration, if not in expanding that integration once a grouping already exists, a conscious political decision was found to be essential.