B030745 - COMPARATIVE LOBBYING LAW

English

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

If you ATTEND the class:
- Your own notes
- Some readings placed on MOODLE
- 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 DONT’T ATTEND the class:
- Some readings placed on MOODLE
- A. Bitonti, P. Harris, Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the Lobbying Industry in 28 EU Countries, Palgrave macmillan, 2017

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 cases 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 cases 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.

None

Frontal teaching lessons and a series of conferences devoted to the discussions of topics covered with subject matter experts.

Course attendance is highly recommended. The attendance will be regularly checked. For the purpose of final exam, your attendance is valid till September 2021.

There are no mid-term evalutations.

If you ATTEND the class:
- Written exam consisting in three open questions on the course’s topics. The exam lasts: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Students will be informed of further details during the course.

If you DON’T ATTEND the class:
- Written exam consisting in three open questions on the program’s topics. The exam lasts: 1 hour and 30 minutes.

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to the pandemic emergency, the examination, for students attending and not, will be oral and on-line.

For ATTENDING students, the detailed syllabus will be provided during the first lesson and/or via email (upon request)

For NON-ATTENDING students
The course aims at clarifying, from a comparative 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 cases to acquire the techniques and tools of lobbying.