The Oxford Handbook of Lobbying and Its Regulation

The volume, sophistication, and reach of lobbying make it a defining force in contemporary societies. At the same time, institutions across countries, levels of government, and international arenas have responded with rules that recognize lobbying as a legitimate means for non-state actors to wield political influence. The Oxford Handbook of Lobbying and its Regulation offers a foundation for understanding this topic at a moment when the practice and oversight of political influence are expanding worldwide. Structured around a conceptual roadmap of the 'five Ws'—who lobbies, where influence is targeted, when actors intervene in the policy cycle, and how and why political and legal systems regulate these activities—the volume takes on the challenge of untangling the complexity of interest representation. The chapters examine how lobbying has expanded across sectors, venues, and stages of decision-making, involving actors ranging from global corporations and consultancy firms to NGOs and citizen-lobbyists, and creating new opportunity structures for influence. The chapters show how regulatory frameworks shape and are shaped by these lobbying structures, highlighting significant cross-national and organizational variation as well as pointing out persistent blind spots and new challenges. Bringing together leading scholarship, this Handbook offers an authoritative and informed starting point for anyone seeking to understand and advance the study of lobbying and its regulation.