The course aims at clarifying, from a comparative legal point of view, a number of issues around the world of lobbies: what lobbying means; how pressure groups act; who the public decision-makers are; what rules govern the relationship between lobbyists and public decision-makers; what rules lobbyists must abide by to influence the public decision maker and what the public decision maker should do when it comes to lobbying groups
There are no manuals that deal with the entire discipline of lobbying. Therefore:
If you ATTEND the class, it is recommended to study:
1. Your own notes
2. Some readings placed on MOODLE
3. A. Bitonti, P. Harris, Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the Lobbying Industry in 28 EU Countries, Palgrave macmillan, 2017 (chapters: 2-4; 13-14; 16-18; 20; 23-24; 26; 28; 31-32)
If you DON’T ATTEND the class, it is recommended to study:
1. Some readings placed on MOODLE
2. A. Bitonti, P. Harris, Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the Lobbying Industry in 28 EU Countries, Palgrave macmillan, 2017
Learning Objectives
The course aims at providing students with the tools to understand what the lobbying phenomenon is and how the lobbying phenomenon fits into the dynamics of pluralist democracies.
In many countries lobbying is subject to very clear rules having the aim of ensuring the transparency and the participation of pressure groups in decision-making. The course therefore deals with the analysis of the rules by which some legal systems (i.e. American and European) regulate lobbying. During the course, some case studies will also be analyzed to understand what the most effective tools and techniques of lobbying are.
The course will allow the student to learn the principles of lobbying with a legal-compared approach. Usually lobbying is analyzed, studied and taught from an "internal" point of view of the system, that is, how a pressure group influences the public decision-maker. This course reverses the discourse. It aims to describe how lobbying manifests itself with the public decision-maker and why lobbying is necessary for the public decision-maker.
The course aims at encouraging the critical and deepening skills of students in relation to the issues covered by the analysis of institutions, constitutional and regulatory texts; issues that will also be explored in the light of institutional, political and social developments. The course will also look at some of the main case studies in the classroom in order to gain a critical ability in relation to the different profiles of lobbying. Students should be able to read and interpret the main regulatory texts in the light of the fundamental issues linking lobbying to democracy.
The course offers the students to acquire the tools to understand the lobbying phenomenon in its complexity and an adequate methodological approach to the issue. At the end of the course, students must be able to communicate their knowledge whit correct legal terminology language through legal logical reasoning
Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
Frontal teaching lessons; series of conferences devoted to the discussions of topics covered with subject matter experts; working groups
Further information
Course attendance is highly recommended. For the purpose of final exam, your attendance is valid till September 2022
Type of Assessment
The are no mid-term evalutations.
If you ATTEND the class:
- A paper analysing the functioning of a given lobbying system (the chosen jurisdiction requires the professor’s approval) and class presentation
- oral exam consisting in about 2/3 questions regarding the issues addressed during the course
Students will be informed of further details during the course.
If you DON’T ATTEND the class:
- Oral exam consisting in about 3 / 4 questions on the full program
Course program
For ATTENDING students, the course program will be illustrated during the first lesson.
For NON-ATTENDING students
The course aims at clarifying, from a legal point of view, a number of issues around the world of lobbies, and in particular the way in which lobbyists relate to public decision-makers. For this purpose the course is divided, in principle, into four parts.
The first part examines the context in which lobbying takes place. In this part, it will be clarified: what lobbying means; who the lobbyists are; who the recipients of lobbying are; which the principles of lobbying are.
The second part aims at clarifying the centre decision-making power on which the lobbyist can act. So in this part we will analyze the main forms of government of the state legal systems.
The third part relates to the rules governing the relationship between the lobbyist and the public decision-maker. The response of legal systems to the lobbying phenomenon is not uniform, therefore the approach will be comparative.
Finally, the fourth part will analyze with subject matter experts some case studies to acquire the techniques and tools of lobbying.