Lobbying (A)symmetry: The Dynamics Behind Informed Policy” (LOBBYMETRY)
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Project Details
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The LOBBYMETRY project addresses two types of imbalances in lobbying: 1) mobilisation asymmetries, which exclude some actors from the policy debate, and 2) information asymmetries, which empower specific groups in their exchanges with policymakers. The project analyses these asymmetries and their relationship to each other, as well as their effects on the ways in which sectional and public interests feed into policymaking.
The project studies these asymmetries across populations of interest organisations in European countries and at European Union level, as well as within the climate and digital policy fields, that vary strongly in mobilisation asymmetries and constitute areas where well- or ill-informed policies have vast consequences for humanity at large. LOBBYMETRY strives to open the black-box of policymaker-lobbyist information exchange within these areas, develop measures of informational quality and accuracy in lobbying, and evaluate how and when lobbying pulls outcomes away from the public interest.
Methodologically, the project combines cross-country surveys, cross-venue data on at least 100 issues in climate and digital policy, and different forms of participant observation of the information exchanges between policymakers and interest organisations in i) natural and ii) researcher-controlled settings. This combination of methods will generate unprecedented quantitative and qualitative evidence on lobbyist-policymaker information exchange in varying contexts.
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Data collection (spring/summer 2026)
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In preparation of the cross-country surveys, the LOBBYMETRY project collects contact information of senior public affairs or political advocacy staff working in interest organisations (NGOs, business associations, trade unions, associations of professionals and companies) and public affairs companies in 11 European countries and at EU level. Names and email addresses of the responsible staff members in each organisation are identified on organisations' websites and/or in lobby registers, complemented with other online sources, where necessary. Names and contact information are collected and checked by the project's research assistants. Where appropriate, AI-tools are used to support this manual collection of data.
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Project Team
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The core project team currently consists of Oliver Huwyler (PostDoc), Vicente Alves (PhD) and Wiebke Marie Junk (PI), supported by the project's student assistants and international advisory board.
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In 2026, an additional PostDoc will be recruited.
Application Deadline: 26 May 2026.
You find the job add here.
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The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC), Starting Grant 2024.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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