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 twelve 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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Project Team
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The core project team will consist of the PI, two PostDocs, and a PhD, as well as teams of student assistants.
Hiring will commence in 2025 and - once calls are open - you will find a link to them 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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