Most scholars agree that coalition formation is an important lobbying strategy. Yet, there is less agreement regarding what we mean by a ‘coalition’ and what effects we expect from it. This chapter makes research findings on the role of coalitions in public affairs more accessible by giving a systematic overview of existing approaches. First, it discusses what actors are members and/or target groups of the coalition. Then it summarises contributions based on four understandings of coalitions in terms of (1) preference similarity, (2) institutionalised cooperation structures, (3) active issue coalitions and (4) coalition portfolios. Empirically, the chapter shows that cooperation structures and issue-specific cooperation are extremely frequent among European lobby groups. Still, existing studies do not provide consistent evidence that issue-specific coalitions increase lobbying success. The chapter explains reasons for these mixed findings by relating them to drivers of coalition formation and factors that condition the effectiveness of coalitions.
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