Home /LIST OF 100 ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION OF A LOBBYING REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

LIST OF 100 ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION OF A LOBBYING REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Submitted by christian on Mon, 10/27/2014 - 14:07
  1. Does the definition of lobbyist adequately cover the type of lobbyist whose conduct or involvement is most likely to affect public perceptions as to transparency, accountability and fairness of decision-making?
  2. To what extent does indirect lobbying occur in your country ?
  3. Are there any recent examples of indirect lobbying in your country?
  4. Is there any evidence of “astroturf lobbying” in your country?
  5. What role do lobbyists play in your country ?
  6. Does this role differ depending on the nature of the issue that is the subject of the lobbying activity?
  7. Are lobbyists needed to provide information to their clients on how to put their case to government or are other sources of information available to clients to enable them to ascertain how to do so?
  8. Is there a difference between representations made by a lobbyist and those made by a consultant or other similar entity?
  9. Is it possible to distinguish between the role of a lobbyist and a consultant when it comes to representing a client’s interests to public officials ?
  10. What is the public perception of the role of lobbyists in  your country?
  11. What factors have contributed to this perception?
  12. Do public perceptions differ depending on the background of the lobbyist (i.e. if the lobbyist is a former minister, MP, political staffer or senior public official)?
  13. Does the public perception of lobbying differ depending on the subject of the lobbying?
  14. Do public perceptions differ depending on whether the person being lobbied is a politician or a public sector employee?
  15. What is the public perception of the way in which lobbyists gain access to public sector decision makers?
  16. What factors have contributed to this perception?
  17. What particular skills or knowledge are required to make a successful lobbyist?
  18. What factors explain the existence of so many lobbyist entities in your country?
  19. What factors explain why so many former politicians and political staffers are engaged as lobbyists in your country?
  20. What attributes or skills make former politicians and political staffers valuable as lobbyists?
  21. Are there particular corruption risks associated with former politicians and political staffers acting as lobbyists and if so how can the risks be managed ?
  22. What factors determine why certain industry sectors are more likely to engage the services of lobbyists?
  23. Is the industry sector represented by lobbyists related to the value of decisions that might be made and/or the level of discretion exercisable in making those decisions?
  24. Which ministerial portfolios are most susceptible to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  25. To what extent are ministers, ministerial chiefs of staff and other ministerial staff subjected to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  26. To what extent are other MPs subjected to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  27. To what extent are departmental public officials subjected to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  28. What levels of departmental officials are subject to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  29. To what extent are elected local government representatives (councillors, including mayors) subjected to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  30. To what extent are staff of local government councils (including general managers) subjected to lobbying by lobbyists and on what matters are they lobbied?
  31. Do councillors lobby their own councils and if so should such lobbying be subject to regulation?
  32. Should any regulatory system for lobbying be extended to cover local government?
  33. To what extent do lobbyists deal with officers of state owned corporations and on what matters do they lobby?
  34. Should any regulatory system for lobbying be extended to cover state owned corporations?
  35. What are the particular corruption risks to which lobbying is susceptible?
  36. Are some areas of lobbying more susceptible to corruption risks than others?
  37. Is there evidence of actual corruption associated with lobbying in your country?
  38. Are there any other rules, guidelines or procedures that seek to regulate lobbying in your country?
  39. Are there any weaknesses in your country’s current regulatory system?
  40. Is there evidence that any particular weaknesses are being exploited and if so by whom and to what extent?
  41. Are there any potential weaknesses in your country’s current regulatory system applicable to those who are lobbied?
  42. Are there any specific features of regulatory systems in other jurisdictions that should be considered in your country?
  43. Is it desirable that any regulatory system be based on broad, paramount guiding principles? If so, what should these principles be?
  44. What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-regulation?
  45. Is there evidence that mandatory regulation is required to achieve desirable standards of transparency, accountability and fairness in your country?
  46. If codes of conduct are to form part of the regulatory system should compliance be mandatory and if so how should this be monitored and enforced?
  47. If legislation is to form part of the regulatory regime what should it cover?
  48. If legislation is to form part of the regulatory regime to what extent should other countries’ lobbying laws be considered as models and what provisions in those laws should be considered for adoption in your country?
  49. Are there any other legislative regimes that should be considered for adoption in your country?
  50. Do some types of lobbying activity (e.g. in relation to planning and development) pose a greater risk than others to the extent that there is a need for different levels or types of regulation?
  51. Is there a need for different levels or types of regulation depending on the type of lobbyist involved (e.g. external contracted lobbyist, in-house lobbyist, interest group lobbyist, employee or employer group lobbyist)?
  52. Should the definition of lobbyist extend beyond those representing third parties and include entities such as public affairs consultancies, law firms, non-government organisations, think-tanks, corporate lobby units, in-house lobbyists, and trade associations?
  53. Who should be excluded from the definition?
  54. What form of words should be used to describe the type(s) of lobbyist that should be subject to the regulatory system?
  55. What are the advantages and disadvantages of including those who are lobbied in the same regulatory regime as that applying to lobbyists?
  56. Should former ministers, ministerial staff, MPs and other public officials be restricted from acting as lobbyists for a period of time after leaving public sector employment and if so for how long?
  57. Should former ministers, ministerial staff, parliamentarians, and other public officials be restricted from lobbying public officials they dealt with when they were in the public sector?
  58. Should any other restrictions be placed on former ministers, ministerial staff, parliamentarians, and other public officials acting as lobbyists?
  59. How should any restrictions be monitored and enforced?
  60. What if any restrictions should be placed on lobbyists organising or arranging the organising of fund raising activities and campaigns for MPs, local councillors, political candidates, or political parties?
  61. How should any restrictions be monitored and enforced?
  62. Should lobbyists be banned from holding government-funded positions?
  63. If not banned from holding such positions, what controls, if any, should be put in place to manage conflicts of interest and how should these be overseen?
  64. Should lobbyists be prohibited from giving gifts or other benefits to those they lobby?
  65. Should lobbyists be required to disclose to a regulator who they lobbied, when they conducted the lobbying, and the matter on which they lobbied?
  66. What, if any, financial information should lobbyists be required to disclose to a regulator?
  67. Is there any other information lobbyists should disclose about themselves, their clients or their activities?
  68. When should lobbyists be required to disclose information to a regulator? Should there be different timelines for disclosure depending on the type of information disclosed?
  69. To what extent should information disclosed by lobbyists be made public?
  70. Are there particular types of information that should be publicly disclosed to make the activities of lobbyists more resistant to corrupt conduct?
  71.  At what stage should information be made public?
  72. What format would best allow publicly disclosed information to be easily accessed, compared and analysed?
  73. Should public officials who are lobbied by a lobbyist be required to record information about that activity?
  74. If so, what information should be recorded and how should it be recorded?
  75. At what stage in the lobbying process should public officials be required to disclose information and to whom should they disclose it? Should there be different timelines for disclosure depending on the type of information disclosed?
  76. To what extent should information disclosed by public officials be made public?
  77. Are there particular types of information that should be publicly disclosed to make the activities of lobbyists and the public officials who are lobbied more resistant to corrupt conduct?
  78. Would it be possible to impose a uniform format for public disclosure so that information recorded by public officials can be more easily compared and analysed?
  79. At what stage should information be made public?
  80. How should the public be able to access any publicly available information?
  81. To what extent is payment of success fees prevalent in your country?
  82. Do success fees pose a potential corruption risk?
  83. Are success fees likely to create perceptions of corruption?
  84. Should payment of success fees to lobbyists be banned?
  85. How should any ban be monitored and enforced?
  86. If payment of success fees is not banned should they be subject to public disclosure?
  87. Should training be available or mandatory for public officials, and if so what matters should be covered by the training and who should be responsible for providing it?
  88. Should training be available or mandatory to lobbyists, and if so what matters should be covered by the training and who should be responsible for providing it?
  89. Who should be responsible for overseeing lobbying?
  90. Should the oversight body be independent?
  91. What powers should the oversight body have?
  92. What sanctions should apply for breaches of the regulatory regime?
  93. How should sanctions be imposed?
  94. Who should impose/enforce sanctions?
  95. Who should be responsible for reviewing the regulatory regime?
  96. Should reviews be conducted on a mandated regular basis or only if a particular issue warranting review is identified?
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100 Issues for considering a Lobbying Regulatory Framework

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