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. Available in paperback due to popular demand, 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.

This book provides a retrospective and prospective analysis of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) on its 20th anniversary. It begins with a historical summary of citizens right to petition, the connection between the right to petition and lobbying, and the regulation of contact between citizens and government in the United States. The book then examines contemporary issues that might affect lobbying and citizens right to petition government; and provides analysis of potential options for congressional action should Congress consider amending provisions of the LDA. Moreover, the book provides a brief history and description of the provisions of federal law restricting employment opportunities and activities of federal employees after they leave the service of the executive or legislative branches of the federal government.

Governments worldwide are developing sunshine policies that increase transparency in politics, where a key initiative is regulating lobbyists. Building on the pioneering first edition, this book updates its examination of all jurisdictions with regulations, from the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Unlike any book, it offers unique insights into how the regulations compare and contrast against each other, offering a revamped theoretical classification of different regulatory environments and situating each political system therein. This edition innovatively considers different measurements to capture the robustness of lobbying laws in terms of promoting transparency and accountability. And, based on the authors’ experience of advising governments globally, it closes with a no-nonsense guide on how to make a lobbying law. This is of value to policymakers seeking to introduce or amend regulations, and lobbyists seeking to influence this process.

This report takes stock of progress made in implementing the 2010 Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying – the only international instrument addressing major risks in the public decision-making process related to lobbying.