International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Lobbying in the Sunlight: A Scoping Review of Frameworks to Measure the Accessibility of Lobbying Disclosures

Document Type : Review Article

Authors
Jennifer Lacy-Nichols 1
Hedeeyeh Baradar 1
Eric Crosbie 2
Katherine Cullerton 3
1 Centre for Health Policy, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2 School of Public Health, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA
3 School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
10.34172/ijhpm.8497
Abstract
Background 
While anyone can lobby governments, most lobbying is driven by commercial interests. Due to limited government disclosures, it is often challenging to get a clear picture of who is lobbying whom or why. To help make lobbying more visible to the public, we set out to develop a framework of key criteria for best practice government lobbying disclosures.
 
Methods 
We undertook a systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify frameworks for measuring or evaluating lobbying transparency. We screened the titles and abstracts of 1727 peer-reviewed and 184 grey literature articles, assessing 230 articles for eligibility. Following screening, we included 15 frameworks from six peerreviewed and nine grey literature articles in our review. To create our framework of lobbying disclosures, we thematically coded the 15 included frameworks and used an iterative process to synthesise categories.
 
Results 
The 15 frameworks covered more than only lobbying disclosures, with the most common other theme about enforcement and compliance. Most frameworks were developed to evaluate lobbying transparency in particular jurisdictions, with the United States the most common. Of the 15 frameworks analysed, those developed by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused mainly on improving lobbying regulations, while most peer-reviewed studies developed frameworks to measure, compare and evaluate lobbying regulations. We developed a Framework fOr Comprehensive and Accessible Lobbying (FOCAL). It comprised eight primary categories (scope, timeliness, openness, descriptors, revolving door, relationships, financials, and contact log) covering 50 total indicators.
 
Conclusion 
Government transparency plays a crucial role in facilitating access to information about commercial political activities like lobbying. Our framework (FOCAL) offers a template for policy-makers to develop or strengthen regulations to improve lobbying transparency so commercial political influence strategies are more visible and subject to public scrutiny. This is an important step towards rebalancing influence toward the public interest.
Keywords
Lobbying
Transparency
Framework
Corporate Political Activity
Commercial Determinants
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 13, Issue 1
2024
Pages 1-14

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  • Received Date 14 March 2024
  • Revised Date 17 July 2024
  • Accepted Date 18 September 2024
  • First Published Date 22 September 2024
  • Published Date 01 December 2024