“Next Door They Have Regulation, But Not Here …”: Assessing the Opinions of Actors in the Opaque World of Unregulated Lobbying

Authors

  • John W Hogan Dublin Institute of Technology
  • Gary Murphy School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
  • Raj S Chari Department of Politics, Trinity College Dublin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24124/c677/200843

Keywords:

Lobbying, transparency, accountability

Abstract

The lobbying of government by various interests is regarded as central to the democratic process. Deliberative democratic theorists tell us that the regulation of lobbying has a positive effect on political systems, and the behaviour of those within them. Yet, only four democratic systems (Canada, USA, EU and Germany) have legislation regulating lobbyists’ activities, and even this regulation is not all pervasive. Here we examine the attitudes of actors in states, provinces, and institutions in the above democracies, where no regulations exist. This ensures that the actors we deal with have knowledge of lobbying regulations, what these regulations entail, as well as the consequences of the absence of any such regulations. Our objective is to discover if these actors see benefits in the introduction of lobbying legislation, as is suggested by deliberative democratic theory.

Author Biographies

John W Hogan, Dublin Institute of Technology

Lecturer in Irish Political and International Political Economy

Gary Murphy, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University

Professor Gary Murphy is vice-president for Post Graduate Research in Dublin City University

Raj S Chari, Department of Politics, Trinity College Dublin

Raj Chari, a native of Canada, is senior lecturer in politics, and directory of European Studies, in Trinity College Dublin

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Published

2008-09-29

How to Cite

Hogan, J. W., Murphy, G., & Chari, R. S. (2008). “Next Door They Have Regulation, But Not Here …”: Assessing the Opinions of Actors in the Opaque World of Unregulated Lobbying. Canadian Political Science Review, 2(3), 125–151. https://doi.org/10.24124/c677/200843