Publication
Title
Understanding bias better : a qualitative exploration of bias in advisory councils of EU agencies
Author
Abstract
European Union (EU) agencies are known to have a high risk of capture by regulated business interests. To limit this risk, agencies try to involve a diverse set of stakeholders. One way of doing so, is to install advisory councils (ACs): permanent bodies with a fixed number of stakeholders selected by the agency. Current scholarship has mainly studied whether stakeholders’ access to ACs is biased towards business interests. However, it remains unknown whether the ACs functioning might also be biased. This research note presents a strategy to go beyond access and look inside the ACs. By examining how members perceive the councils, its meetings and the discussions therein, it explores whether the councils’ functioning contributes to more balanced interest representation. We illustrate that although the councils’ members are willing to prioritize seeking consensus over defending their own interests, finding this consensus proves difficult due to asymmetries in resources, thus stressing the need for a better understanding of bias. We end with proposing further qualitative approaches to study bias of advisory bodies in the future.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Political research exchange
Publication
2024
DOI
10.1080/2474736X.2024.2306279
Volume/pages
6 :1 (2024) , p. 1-19
Article Reference
2306279
ISI
001149613200001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
The Post-crisis Legitimacy of the European Union European Training Network (PLATO).
Publication type
Subject
Law 
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 26.01.2024
Last edited 11.04.2024
To cite this reference