The format of this newsletter is bound to evolve in the coming months and years. it starts with a simple premise. Practitioners in PR and lobbying don't have easy access to lots of relevant and thought-provoking research that relates to what they do. Sometimes because of the academic-practitioner divide, often because academic research is hidden behind ridiculously expensive pay walls. Many papers can be found, you just have to know where to look. That's one service this newsletter can provide. There might be others to be discovered if a community of readers builds. Let's see. No more waiting, on with the pilot episode of The Wall Jump...
In this edition…
· Featured research: OECD Lobbying in the 21st Century
· Over the (pay) wall
· Notable
· Cultural Hinterland
Five takeaways on the OECD “lobbying in the 21st century”
Although I imagine in most editions the featured study will come from the academic world, almost impossible not to think this research report from the OECD is not the place to start this edition. Lobbying in the 21st Century is a follow up on progress of the OECD's Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying.
I have a particular interest in Principal 1: that countries should provide a level playing field by granting all stakeholders fair and equitable access to the development and implementation of public policies. To foster citizens’ trust in public decision making, public officials should promote fair and equitable representation of business and societal interests - but was there much here on this key problem??? The report recognises there is an undue influence over public officials from the most powerful lobbyists, and this happens in most countries.
Takeaway 1 – The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This means the cancellations of many policy consultations, and of course, face-to-face meetings. The OECD concluded this meant the most well-connected lobbyists enjoyed an additional influence advantage. Conversations by phone calls or whatsapp shut out a lot of civic society stakeholders from key decisions. How this might have affected the content of stimulus packages remains to be seen.
Takeaway 2 – The ongoing legitimacy problem. Lobbying isn’t seen as a legitimate practice by many citizens. The "abuse of lobbying practices – such as the monopoly of influence by special interest groups, undue influence through covert or deceptive evidence, or the manipulation of public opinion – can result in suboptimal policies and outcomes. An analysis of 300 academic studies showed that such abuse has led, for example, to negative health outcomes, inaction on climate policies, excessive regulation to protect incumbents, or insufficient regulation to correct market failures or distortions. In addition, the abuse of lobbying practices undermines citizens’ trust in democratic processes."
Takeaway 3 – How the OECD is putting Canada and the EU up as role models: "More transparency is needed on who funds research, think tanks and grassroots organisations, as well as on the use of social media as a lobbying tool. The Canadian Register of Lobbyists and the EU Transparency Register are the only frameworks requiring lobbyists to disclose information on the use of social media and other public relations campaigns as a lobbying tool. While transparency of political finance is high, some grey areas remain, such as the funding of digital advertisements for political parties and candidates. Transparency over the composition and functioning of advisory and expert groups remains limited."
Takeaway 4 – Big Tech have become the Big Spenders, and face it, this is the BIG power struggle between private vested interests and democratic governments. There is evidence in the report taken from Transparency International’s focus on lobbying registers and the publication of public officials’ agendas that shows that lobbying on digital issues is the policy issue involving the least diversity of stakeholders, concentrated in a handful of companies; “In the United States, lobbying spending in the technology sector increased by 412% between 2010 and 2020. The top five spenders represented nearly three-quarters (73%) of total spending in the sector in 2020…In the EU, digital issues were also among the most targeted portfolios of EU Commissioners from 2014 to 2019”
Takeaway 5 – Remember Principal 1 from six paragraphs back, well, in a survey conducted for the report 57% of lobbyists “pointed out” lobbying regulations do not always “promote equity of treatment between those who influence decision-making processes”. As a consequence the over-supply of resource-rich groups involved in lobbying means that certain interests are over-represented in decision making – and civic society, and the actual lived experiences of citizens, under-represented.
OVER THE (PAY) WALL
* Can we predict what kind of tweets will generate most public engagement? This study explores this question by looking at COVID-19-related tweets by public health agencies in Texas.
Full paper: https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/4/e26720
* What impacts are lobbyists having in the Colarado, Nebraska and Wisconsin legislatures? Daniel Butler and David R Miller from the University of California and Vanderbilt University. Their study suggests where there is influence, it is on the legislative agenda, rather on the votes of elected politicians themselves: “Significantly, we do not find that lobbying changes how committee members vote on final passage for bills they report to the floor. When we control for how legislators voted in committee, new lobbying after the committee vote does not affect their floor votes. Rather, we find that lobbying influences outcomes by shaping the agenda.”
Full paper: https://tinyurl.com/uwvbdmh
* Treena Clark at University of Technology in Sydney and colleagues paper based on narrative interviews with five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women working in public relations, includes recommendations on how PR can play a role in decolonisation initiatives.
Full paper: https://tinyurl.com/4hv4bvy6
NOTABLE
David Allen Green goes to the heart of why ex-ministers, indeed ex-prime ministers…waving at David Cameron, raise the most difficult questions about defending lobbying as a right:
"Just as everyone has the ‘right’ to dine at the Ritz – but it an empty right when one cannot afford it – a right to lobby those with power is an empty right if one does not have connections or the know-how about making such access effective…Unless lobbying is regulated then there will be a natural tendency for those with money – such as a finance company – and those with the best connections – such as a former prime minister – to have far more effective access and influence than others.
This then undermines if not negates the rights of others, as influencing decision-making, rule-making and policy-making becomes the preserve of those with better connections…It is the right of the privileged, but one masquerading as a a general right of openness."
Cultural Hinterland
I discovered Voice and singing coaches watching and reacting to, well, famous singers singing. You can see three difference coaches all being blown away by Johnny Cash's version of Hurt. No surprise there - has to be one of the most powerful music videos ever created. See the reactions…