SECTION: What is the FCP all about

LEVEL 2 SECTION: What does substantial mean?

LEVEL 3 SECTION: What about lobbying?

LEVEL 4 SECTION: How did petitioning evolve?

YOU WERE READING:

...The rise of the professional lobbyist has meant an incredible – and potentially dangerous – concentration of power...

WHY DANGEROUS?

When the sources and financial statements of lobbying firms or associations are not disclosed, lobbying may become an anti-democratic endeavor, as it hinders the ability of the electors to hold politicians directly accountable to them. It introduces another - often hidden - level between the people and their elected representatives. 

Another danger to democracy is that lobbying firms and organizations may exercise power and influence over the media (or have their own media) and may keep the electors uninformed about the real reasons for legislative change or, worse, misinform the electors to the benefit of a restricted group.

"Lobbying makes a real contribution to the political and decisional process by being overt rather than covert. This happens through providing information, data and analysis furnished by sector specialists, enabling public decision-makers to make decisions with the widest possible knowledge on the matter."¹ 

This kind of approach is accepted more in Canada (and the US), where there is regulation of lobbyists’ activities, than in Europe. For example, "in the political and journalistic Italian lexicon, lobbying is a synonym of corruption: "After the scandal of Tangentopoli, the bribe-taking allegations that brought down the government of Bettino Craxi in the 1990s, lobbying is a hard concept to sell to Italian voters. It is apt to be perceived as a murky world in which pressure groups push for ‘unknown’ interests on the margins of democratic legitimacy."¹

REFERENCES:
[1] Public Affairs News Article: "REGIONAL ANALYSIS – ITALY: MISJUDGED AND MALIGNED", By Franco Spicciariello