Regulating lobbying: a global comparison

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. 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.

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