The role of lobbying in political decision making
The role of lobbying in political decision making
Thursday 7 Sep 2017New briefing paper
Thursday 28th September 2017
16:00pm - 17:30pm
(followed by a networking reception)
University of Warwick Brussels Office
Avenue d'Auderghem 22-28, 22-28 Oudergemselaan
B-1040 Brussels
Lobbying and interest groups play a high-profile role in many advanced countries' political decision making. At the same time, public confidence in political institutions is at an all-time low in many countries - with recent referenda and election results a reflection of this sentiment.
One issue is that the general public disapproves of the personal financial conduct of politicians. 'Institutional corruption' describes the process by which a bad set of incentives, often political money, interacts with political institutions to produce outcomes that strongly favour special interests over public welfare.
Mirko Draca, Research Associate at CAGE and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and Wyn Grant, Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Warwick, explored the research evidence on the role of lobbying and interest groups in political decision making.
For example, former political insiders account for around 60% of lobbying firm revenues and the analysis suggests that connections account for a very large fraction of these revenues. The panel will discussed the multitude of issues that arise in the regulation of lobbying.