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This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Validity and Variation in the Parentela Policy Network: Conflict and Cooperation between Ruling Parties and Interest Groups in Bulgaria Mihail Petkov PhD – The University of Edinburgh – 2015 Table of Contents Chapter 1:The Parentela Policy Network Type.............................................................1 1.1. Introduction............................................................................................................1 1.2. Parentela: Definition and Formation Causes.........................................................8 1.3. Preliminary Observations.....................................................................................16 1.3.1. Traces of Party-Insider Group Network Relationships.................................17 1.3.2. Party Political Appointments........................................................................23 1.3.3. Absence of a Party Hegemon........................................................................26 1.4. Conclusion and Thesis Outline............................................................................27 CHAPTER 2: Parentela Operationalisation................................................................34 2.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................34 2.2. Defining the Parentela Policy Network...............................................................35 2.3. Policy Network Descriptors.................................................................................39 2.3.1. Power Ratio (Asymmetry)............................................................................45 2.3.2. Network Dynamics.......................................................................................56 2.3.3. Degree of Access...........................................................................................56 2.3.4. Primary Venue and Venue Scope..................................................................58 2.4. Policy Network Classification.............................................................................61 2.4.1. Subgovernments............................................................................................61 2.4.2. Policy Communities......................................................................................62 2.4.3. Clientela........................................................................................................63 2.4.4. Issue Networks..............................................................................................64 2.4.5. Parentela........................................................................................................65 2.4.6. Policy Network Classification Using Network Descriptors.........................65 2.5. Conclusion...........................................................................................................66 CHAPTER 3: Elite Interviews, Systems Design and Case Studies............................68 3.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................68 3.2. Elite Respondent Pools Comparison....................................................................71 3.3. Causes of Elite Respondent Reluctance and Resistance......................................84 3.3.1. Insider/Outsider Positionality...................................................................84 3.3.2. Expert Positionality...................................................................................85 3.3.3. Adversarial Positionality Types................................................................87 3.4. Reducing Elite Respondent Reluctance and Resistance Using an Intermediary. 91 3.4.1. Respondent Selection Stage..........................................................................94 3.4.1.1. Specific Respondent Selection...............................................................94 3.4.1.2. Offering an Incentive.............................................................................95 3.4.1.3. Intermediary’s Respondent Identification and Researcher legitimation96 3.4.1.4. Intermediary Snowballing......................................................................97 3.4.2. Interview stage..............................................................................................99 3.4.2.1. Interview structure.................................................................................99 3.4.2.2. The Active Interview............................................................................100 3.4.2.3. Intermediaries at Active Interviews.....................................................102 3.4.2.3.1Casual Conversation...............................................................................104 3.4.2.3.2Support to the Respondent...................................................................105 3.4.2.3.3Support to the Researcher.....................................................................106 3.4.2.3.4Eliciting More Information.....................................................................107 3.4.2.4. Limitations to the use of the intermediary at elite interviews..............111 3.5. Causality, Comparative Designs and Case Studies............................................114 iii 3.6. Conclusion.........................................................................................................116 CHAPTER 4: The Party in Power as a Parentela Primary Venue: The Case of National Council on Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC)...............................................118 4.1. Introduction........................................................................................................118 4.2. Party Intervention and the National Council for Tripartite Consultations (NCTC) ...................................................................................................................................119 4.3. Alternative Perspectives on NCTC: Prime-Ministerial Democracy or Oligarchy ...................................................................................................................................128 4.3.1. Prime-Ministerial Democracy.....................................................................128 4.3.2. Bulgarian Oligarchy....................................................................................135 4.4. Conclusion.........................................................................................................137 CHAPTER 5: Party Political Appointments and Venue Scope................................138 5.1. Introduction........................................................................................................138 5.2. Scope of Party Political Appointments in Bulgaria...........................................141 5.3. Structure of Appointments on Central and Local Level....................................148 5.4. Explaining Party Political Appointments: Political Distrust..............................155 5.4.1. Party’s Distrust of Independent Expertise...................................................158 5.4.2. Distrust of Appointees of Party Electoral Losers........................................163 5.4.3. Insider Agreements and Resource Exchange..............................................164 CHAPTER 6: Insiderness, Cooperation and Power Symmetry................................169 6.1. Introduction........................................................................................................169 6.2. Core Insider Status, Cooperation and Power Parity...........................................172 6.2.1. Expertise for Access....................................................................................173 6.2.2. Voter Support and Ideological Proximity for Access..................................177 6.2.3. Campaign Funds for Access........................................................................184 6.3. Preliminary Results and Limitations..................................................................187 iv 6.4. Conclusion.........................................................................................................191 CHAPTER 7: Profiling Private Parentela Actors.....................................................193 7.1. Introduction........................................................................................................193 7.2. Circles of Big Business and the Parentela.........................................................195 7.2.1. Core Insider Status, Exchange, and Party Political Appointments.............196 7.2.2. Circles and Party Political Appointments...................................................197 7.2.3. Existence
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