Ethical Lobbying, an Oxymoron? On the fairness of lobbying

Abstract

Lobbyists have a negative reputation, but their influence increases. At the same time, the legitimacy of current democratic systems is being questioned. This thesis investigates whether lobbying harms the ideal of equality. It concerns lobbyists in all modern democracies, but is mainly focussed on corporate lobbies in The Hague, Brussels and Washington. The institution of lobbying will be assessed by the application of complex proceduralism. This method, developed by Charles Beitz, is based on a social contract to warrant equal respect. The thesis consists of six sections. Section one gives an introduction to lobbying. Thereafter, in section two, various theories of political equality will be discussed. The reasons for rejecting the theories of best results, of popular will, and of equal procedures underlie complex proceduralism, which is described in section three. This method contains three central categories of values: recognition, equitable treatment and deliberative responsibility. In section four, complex proceduralism will be applied to the institution of lobbying. I conclude that it is reasonable to object to lobbying, but that in the foreseeable term there is no better alternative. Therefore I give recommendations to make the practice fairer in section five. In Appendix I, I reflect upon the limitations of my analysis.