The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 55 No 1 March 2004
pages 55-77
Abstract
It is argued that institutional features of the British state create collective action problems for the mobilization of corporations as donors to the Conservative Party. Social factors are necessary for overcoming these problems. Using social network analyses, the effect that interlocking directorates have on 250 large British corporations' decisions to donate are analysed. Instead of the central mobilizing factor being diffuse inner circle mechanisms positively influencing the decision to make a donation, the results show that more particularistic mechanisms such as information bias and control are equally important.
Keywords: British corporate political donations, interlocking directorates, political mobilization, social networks, social idilemmas, inner circle theories
Matthew Bond
Department of Sociology, and Nuffield College, Oxford University