Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust, Volume 1
Increasing Transparency through Legislation
Lobbying can improve policy making by providing valuable insights and data, but it
can also result in unfair advantages for vested interests if the process is opaque
and standards are lax. Lobbying is resource intensive. The financial services sector
in the United States spent USD 3.4 billion lobbying the federal government between
1998 and 2008, principally promoting the deregulation of the financial sector. Legions
of lobbyists provide “guns for hire” worldwide. In 2008, there were over 5 000 registered
lobbyists in Canada at the national level, while the European Commission in Brussels
had over 2 000 registered as of August 2009.
This report reviews the experiences of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Poland, the United
Kingdom and the United States with government regulations designed to increase scrutiny
for lobbying and lobbyists. Current approaches, models, trends and state-of-the-art
solutions are examined to support a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations
of existing norms. The report also presents building blocks for developing a framework
for lobbying that meets public expectations for transparency, accountability and integrity
Published on December 01, 2009Also available in: French