STRATEGIC LOBBYING BASED ON LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT

Lobbyists make strategic lobbying choices based on their available resources, their lobbying targets, the characteristics of the issue, and the characteristics of other groups. However, the characteristics of the legislative context are also important factors for lobbyists to consider.

The legislative context includes any political information that might affect how a lobbyist perceives a policy it wishes to affect. Important aspects of this context are: Parliamentarians’ knowledge about an issue, public awareness about an issue, pre-existing political consensus on an issue, and procedural obstructions in the legislative process.

The strategy selection depends on the legislative context:

 First, given that most lobbying is informational, a lobbyist who must decide how to lobby needs to know how much a priori knowledge a parliamentarian  has on a particular issue. The lobbyist must assess the degree of knowledge their targets have about an issue in order to determine which lobbying approach would be the most effective. Lobbyists therefore gather a measure of how much legislators need to know before they devise a lobbying scheme.

Second, lobbyists consider how the public views an issue before selecting a lobbying strategy. When lobbyists cannot win the information game they may attempt to expand the public awareness of an issue to attempt to persuade legislators. When the public is highly aware of an issue, it is more difficult for legislators to ignore the demands of groups regarding that issue. Therefore, a lobbyist needs to assess how knowledgeable the public is about an issue before selecting a lobbying strategy  Public awareness is an important component of the legislative context of an issue. .

Third, the level of a priori political consensus that exists on an issue contributes to a lobbyist’s perception of the legislative context and, in part, determines the lobbying strategies. The goal of lobbying is persuasion; a non-persuasive lobbyist is an ineffective lobbyist. Whether a lobbyist lobbies allies or adversaries, if the information they provide is not persuasive, their time has been wasted. If Parliament is unanimous in its preferences over a policy, lobbyists are likely not spend many resources contacting legislators on such an issue; however, where there is dissention, lobbyists have the opportunity to be persuasive.  The level of consensus of members of Parliament is an important cue that lobbyists use to help determine which lobbying strategies to employ.

The final important element of the legislative context that helps determine lobbying strategies is the level of procedural obstruction that stands in the way of legislation. When the legislative environment is particularly unfriendly, lobbyists have a more difficult time making inroads on legislation. All else being equal, lobbyists would rather expend lobbying efforts using strategies they believe have a positive probability of success. If a bill does not receive hearings, does not get referred to subcommittee, or has been threatened with a veto, the lobbyist may be restricted in terms of how much access they can get to influence a bill. Conversely, when the legislative environment provides opportunities for lobbyist’s involvement making lobbying less costly, lobbyists are more likely to participate.

The legislative context is an important component of lobbyists’ strategic  choices. Lobbyists need to spend their resources strategically.