The Function of Lobbying in Political Societies: A Comparative Study of Great Britain, Belgium, and the United States: No. 26 (Studies in Political Science S.)

Examines the activities of lobbyists in three of the largest global lobbying markets - Washington, London, and Brussels - and places those activities in the context of the political, cultural, and institutional environments within which lobbying is undertaken in those locations.

"This book combines an extensive literature review, fifty interviews and nine mini-case studies into a comprehensive three-capital comparison. Comparison is the strength of this book, a quality which will be more sinuously displayed by tighter editing. Those already familiar with the literature will find much reassurance on conventional thinking, for this book tends to confirm rather than unsettle. Its originality, however, stands out: it is to take readers into the three capitals which are the powerhouses of modern lobbying. It will be a standard, international text on lobbying until a new political economy adds Beijing and Baghdad as global power centers." - Dr. Kevin Moloney, Principal Lecturer, Bournemouth University "Certainly, there has been a burst of interest in the activities of lobbyists among popular writers and academies alike during the past twenty-five years and an increasing body of writing is available. This includes writing on lobbyists outside the US as it was slowly realized that lobbyists were not simply an American phenomenon. But, with few exceptions, these writings are academic treatments (that often attempt to mathematically model lobbyists' activities), anecdotal popular accounts, or practical 'how-to' guides to lobbying. What is lacking is a book that combines the theoretical approach and systematic structure of an academic book with the practical insights of field research. This book is a path-breaking work which fills this gap. In doing so, McGrath, a former lobbyist turned academic, presents answers to the three questions set out above in a very readable and systematic way, combining reference to the major academic and popular literature on lobbying, its major findings, and the perspectives of the practitioners themselves through skillfully edited transcripts of interviews with lobbyists in Washington, London and Brussels. A major contribution of this book is that it identifies the similarities and differences in lobbying across three major political systems and attempts to account for them in terms of differences in political culture and governmental structures. To date, very little academic literature exists on comparing lobbyists across different political systems. Most of the existing coverage focuses on one country such as Britain, France, Sweden and particularly the United States. What we lack is a comparative study across countries that prove an in-depth understanding of the job of the lobbyist. The combination of sources and perspectives found in McGrath's book will be of great value to scholars around the world conducting research or simply studying lobbyists and lobbying activity. Plus, those teaching courses on interest groups and related subjects will find a great source of course material in these pages. In addition, those embarking on a career in lobbying or wanting to find out if what they do and how they do it with others in their profession, can also gain much from this book. In this regard, McGrath's book can act as a sort of handbook for lobbyists. Overall, this book is an important addition to the work on interest groups and lobbyists and particularly for understanding the lobbyists as a political player across political system." - (from the Commendatory Preface) Dr. Clive S. Thomas, Professor of Political Science, University of Alaska, Juneau "... McGrath's book examines the similarities and differences in the key activities of lobbyists... A major feature of the study is that it offers very useful detailed analysis of how the institutional frameworks, particularly the Party systems and Executive/Legislative relationships, have played a major role in determining the differing public policy processes in Washington, London and Brussels... Overall this is an important and extremely useful book which will be of interest to a range of audiences including: lobbyists, politicians, academics and students of public relations/political communication... This book will make a very valuable contribution to the emerging body of work in the field of political public relations." -- Dr. Ian Somerville, Queen Margaret University College"