In an age of corruption, sleaze and scandal associated with financial crisis and economic downturn across the globe, citizens want more transparency and accountability in politics. Available in paperback due to popular demand, this book examines a principal means by which this can be achieved: the regulation of lobbyists.
It provides innovative insights into lobbying regulations across four continents - North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. What are these regulations about? What are the differences across the continents? How effective are the rules? How have they changed the lobbying profession?
Using qualitative and quantitative analyses, the book compares and contrasts regulatory laws in the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, the EU, Taiwan and Australia. -- .
Table of Contents:
List of tables
List of figures
Acknowledgements
1. Outlining central questions and method of analysis
2. Political systems with regulations in place in the 1900s: the US, Canada, the EU and Germany
3. Political systems with regulations in place in the 2000s: Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Taiwan and Australia
4. Analysis of a quantitative index and classifying regulatory regimes
5. Examining findings from surveys and elite interviews in the four political systems with the longest history of lobbying regulation
6. Examining the opinions of actors in unregulated jurisdictions
7. Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix A – Sample calculations of CPI scores
Appendix B – Sample of surveys sent
Index
About the Author :
Raj Chari is Senior Lecturer in Political Science in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin
John Hogan is Lecturer in Political Economy at the Dublin Institute of Technology
Gary Murphy is Associate Professor of Government in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University
Review :
This is an outstanding product of painstaking global comparative research on the regulation of lobbying. The authors have gathered an impressive array of data covering every country in the world that has established lobbying regulation, including a comparative examination of the views of key agents involved and taxonomy of existing political systems. This is the most thorough analysis of lobbying regulation to date, a book that was long due and promises to define the subject for a long time.
We've needed a book like this for some time. It's both a very thorough survey and a thought-provoking analysis of lobbying regulations in federal and unitary states alike. The authors say that their book constitutes "a thorough comparative examination of extant lobbying regulations around the world" and this is exactly what they give us. But there is more. This is not just a robust piece of academic research. It actually offers advice for policy makers required to design a system of lobbying regulation. So now there's no excuse: read Chari et al if you want to find out which state has done what to regulate its lobbyists and why, and how and which regulatory systems should be put in place by those wanting to do so.
“The first and only book of its kind, this comprehensive assessment of lobbying regulations around the globe explains not only the who’s and the why’s of the lobbying equation but also gives a very useful description of what regulations are in place in different countries across the globe. The book will be recognized as the single best resource for anyone interested in the topic of the regulation of lobbying or political transparency. Through painstaking research in many countries, including national systems as well as sub-national units such as the American states, Canadian provinces, and German Lander, the authors explain and describe the nature of lobbying regulations wherever they are found. They then compare systems with low, moderate, and high degrees of lobbying regulation, explaining the most important outcomes associated with increased lobbying regulation as well as the potential dangers of poorly designed regulation systems. It is a major contribution to the literature and a very impressive accomplishment to put all this information in a single volume. It will be the definitive book on the topic for years to come”.
