Research on interest group participation in European Union politics has mushroomed since the end of the 1990s. What role citizens should play in the political process - should they participate through elected representatives or through interest groups and so-called 'civil society organisations'- has taken a central place in political and academic debates surrounding the alleged EU's democratic deficit. Here I critically analyse the literature dealing with the potential value of interest groups and 'civil society organisations' to the development of democracy in the EU. The existing empirical case studies lead to the conclusion that the elite characteristics of these actors question their capacity to increase democratic legitimacy. Finally, future research should be designed around large-scale quantitative and qualitative empirical studies that investigate participation designs and effective participation in the EU and other political systems.
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