‘We are not sitting at the table, but we are part of the ecosystem’: engagement groups and the G7
Iris Bartelt et al.
What the paper says
Abstract The Group of Seven (G7) has often been criticised for being an exclusive and elite club because of its back-room politics and non-transparency. As a response, the G7 presidencies began interacting with different civil society groups, so-called engagement groups. We conceptualise the engagement groups as an organizational field, which we aim to study by addressing three interrelated questions: (i) why do engagement groups get involved with the G7 (expectations); to what extent is the G7 process influenced by engagement groups (roles); and (iii) how do engagement groups assess their impact on the G7 (self-evaluation). We base our analysis on semi-structured interviews which we conducted during the German G7 presidency in 2022. Our study demonstrates that engagement groups within the G7 ‘ecosystem’ embody the connection to different segments of society and thereby strengthen the G7’s legitimacy. While the scope and intensity of engagement group involvement can vary across presidencies, the German case in 2022 provides insights into the specific processes, structures, and interrelations shaping this engagement. Our analysis makes visible otherwise less discernible dimensions of the G7 process and allows to re-calibrate decoupling between the formal level and their implementation in working activities and more informal surroundings.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.