On the enemy's turf: exploring the link between macro- and micro-framing in interest group communication

A key strategy of interest groups to influence policy-making is to frame the policy issue, that is, influence how the issue is understood collectively by policy-makers and the public. Hence, scholarly interest in how interest groups' micro-framing of an issue influences and is influenced by the macro-frame, that is, the current collective understanding of the issue, is growing rapidly. To provide a starting point for more systematic analysis, this paper develops a typology of micro-framing strategies that an interest group can use when the macro-frame changes to be misaligned in a hegemonic way with the private interests of the interest group. Based on existing insights in the literature, we derive tentative hypotheses on the sequence of the micro-frame response. We apply the typology to the case of alcohol policy in Denmark. Our typology opens up a new and important avenue for future interest group research.