Table 5 Studies analysing lobbyist meetings
Lead author | Title (short) | Year | Journal | Jurisdiction | Govt. level | Govt. Department | Govt. actors mentioned | Industry sector | Specific activity measured | Lobbying data sources | Other data sources | Time period | Volume of data | Lobbying purpose analysed | Level of detail about purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
McKay | The decision to lobby bureaucrats | 2011 | Public Choice | US | National | Many | – | – | Contact made with government | Washington Representatives data; Lobbying Disclosure dataset created by Baumgartner & Leech (2001) | – | 1996 | 3362 lobbyist-issues; 19,309 lobbyist reports | N | n/a |
Boehmke | Business as usual | 2013 | Journal of Public Policy | US | National, State | Many | – | – | Contact made with government branches concerning specific issues | LDA reports; lobbying reports from Minnesota state's Campaign Finance Regulation website | – | 1996, 2004 | 1,092 organisations; 5,935 lobbyist-issue-organisation observations; 3,975 issue-organisation observations (state); 5838 groups; 49,518 total issues (Federal) | N | n/a |
ALTER-EU | National Representations in Brussels | 2016 | ALTER-EU | EU | Supranational (member state permanent representations to the EU) | Member state permanent representations to the EU | Permanent Representatives; Deputy Permanent Representatives | – | Meetings | Access to Information requests provided by Ireland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Poland | EU’s Joint Transparency Register | 2014–2015 | 267 lines | Y | Topic of discussion listed, but not position of interest group |
Reyes | Carbon Welfare | 2016 | Corporate Europe Observatory | EU | Supranational (EU parliament and council) | Climate; Energy | Commissioners for climate and energy; Directorates General Clima (ClimateAction); Directorates General Growth; Energy Intensive Industries expert group; European Parliamentarians | Climate | Meetings, letters, position papers, evens (e.g., dinners, cocktail parties, birthday parties) | Open calendars of European Commissioners and their cabinets; European Commission Transparency Register | LobbyFacts database | 2014–2016 | – | Y | Moderately detailed; illustrative examples presented |
Boucher | Who you know in the PMO | 2018 | Canadian Public Administration | Canada | National | Many | Civil servants; politicians | – | Oral and arranged communications with designated public office holders | Communication reports filed in the Canadian lobbying registry | – | 2008–2013 | 72,082 lobbying contacts; 1,804 lobbying organizations | N | n/a |
Coen | Between cheap talk and epistocracy | 2019 | Public Administration | EU | Supranational (European Parliament) | Committee on economic & financial affairs (ECON); Committee on internal market & consumer protection (IMCO); Committee on civil liberties, justice & home affairs (LIBE) | Members of European Parliament | – | Attendance in a EP hearing | EP’s Joint Transparency Register; EP’s online search engine | – | 2009–2014 | 74 hearings; 357 speakers | N | n/a |
Boucher | Consultant Lobbyists and Public Officials | 2019 | Political Studies Review | Canada | National | Many | Ministers; partisan advisors (exempt staff); public servants (deputy and assistant deputy ministers) | – | Contact a public office holder | Canadian Lobbyist Registry | – | 2008–2016 | 1533 consultant lobbyists; 23,525 communication reports; 2235 different public offic holders (communicated with lobbyists) | N | n/a |
Cullerton | Doctors rule | 2019 | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Australia | State (NSW, QLD) | Health | Ministers | Food | Meeting with state minister | Government websites | – | 2013–2018 | 5025 diary entries | Y | Topics related to nutrition listed, but little detail provided (e.g., junk food advertising, National Nutrition Week, childhood obesity) |
Alves | Corporate political strategies in Europe | 2020 | Business and Politics | EU | Supranational (European Commission) | Many | Commissioners; commissioners' cabinet members; directors-general | Energy, financials, technology, telecommunication services, and utilities | Meetings | EC Transparency Register; information about Commission meetings | Thomson Reuters Business Classification; Fortune Global 500; Forbes World's Biggest Public Companies | 2014–2016 | 1,845 companies | N | n/a |
Haeder | Out of the public’s eye? | 2020 | Interest Groups & Advocacy | US | National (Office of Management and Budget) | Many | US President’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' (OIRA) presidential appointee; white house officials; representatives from government agencies; members of congress | – | Oral communications (meetings, phone calls) | White House Web site | Unified Agenda; Federal Register; Open Secrets; draft-Final Rule text | 2005–2011 | 786 meetings; 4264 attendees; 315 distinct rules | N | n/a |
Liu | Campaign Contributions and Access to Congressional Offices | 2021 | Political Research Quarterly | US | National | Many | – | – | Meetings | Foreign Agent Registration Act data via Department of Justice (https://efile.fara.gov/ords/f?p=107:21:::NO:::; revolving door profiles from CRP) | DW-NOMINATE (now VoteView https://voteview.com/) documenting member ideology; CRP: campaign contibutions from lobbyists and PACs affiliated with lobby firms; revolving door data from Center for Responsive Politics | 1998–2019 | 981 lobby firms; 9,498 lobbyists; 5,357 “supplemental reports” comprising more than 70,000 records of lobbyist seeking contact; lobbyist campaign contributions (1430 in both datasets; 13,484 in CRP records only; 10,910 in FARA reports only) | Y | Author notes data not consistent enough for inclusion in statistical analysis |
Huwyler | Interest group tactics and legislative behaviour | 2021 | Journal of European Public Policy | Ireland | National | Many | Legislators | – | Meetings, Lobby days, Events/receptions, Informal communication, Virtual meetings, Phone calls, Conference calls, Letters, E-mails, Submissions, Social media | Irish Register of Lobbying | Houses of the Oireachtas Open Data APIs (oral and written parliamentary questions); Nealon’s Guide; electionsireland.org; wikipedia.org | 2015–2019 | 217,886 lobbying attempts; 67,347 parliamentary questions tabled by Irish legislators | N | n/a (although statement about 'intended results' part of lobbyist return data) |
Coen | Lobbying Brexit Negotiations | 2021 | Politics and Governance | EU | Supranational (European Commission) | Many | EU's Chief Negotiator and Brexit Task Force | – | Meetings | European Commission website | EU’s Joint Transparency Register | 2016–2020 | 159 participants;113 interest groups | Y | Two general categories used |
Mulligan | Stakeholder interactions with the federal government related to Bill S-228 and marketing to kids in Canada | 2021 | CMAJ open | Canada | National | Health Canada | Parliamentarians and their staff; Prime Minister’s Office; Ministers and parliamentary secretaries; Ministerial staff; Members of Parliament, Senators and their staff; Civil servants; Privy Council Office; Deputy ministers; Assistant deputy ministers; Other government officials | – | Meetings; correspondence; documents | Health Canada’s “Meetings and correspondence on healthy eating” database; Registry of Lobbyists | – | 2016–2019 | 139 meetings; 65 lobbying registrants; 215 lobbying registrations; 3418 communications | N | n/a |
Influence Map | The Battle for Ambitious EV policy in the UK | 2021 | Influence Map | UK | National | – | – | Automotive (energy briefly mentioned) | Meetings; submissions; public comments | UK government’s transparency platform | Submissions; public statements | 2017–2020 | 436 meetings | Y | Significant detail of interest group positions (based on non-meeting data sources, e.g. public comments) |