A black box assessment of institutional quality: the challenge of evaluating lobbying transparency

Figures & data

Table 1. Catalogue of Transparent Lobbying Environment – short version

Category / number of indicators	Justification of the category of measures	Data, information	Measures and key elements of transparency
Lobbyists
Register (14)	to obtain basic information about lobbyists and lobbying activities	Registers of lobbyists/lobbying.	Public accessibility; Types of lobbyists regulated; Number of lobbyists registered vs. estimation of unregistered;
Codes of Conduct (8)	to avoid on unethical behaviour	Codes. Annual reports of lobbyists associations.	Bans on unethical dealings; Regulation of investigation in terms of breaching the Codes.
Disclosure of activities (9)	to shed light on lobbyists activities and allow public control	Declarations of lobbyists. Declaration of politicians and POH. Open calendars.	Timely published data on: what, who, why and whose interest is represented and list of clients; meetings, events, persons, matters, result; Electronically accessible for the public.
Targets of lobbying
Codes of Conduct (14)	to enhance integrity of public institutions for upholding and prioritizing the public interest over private interests	Members of Parliament. Ministers, Employees in the Civil Service.	Ban on paid (and unpaid) representation of interest groups; Declaration of conflict of interest before voting; Provisions for how to interact with lobbyists.
Revolving doors (7)	to enhance government accountability; to prevent POH from abusing their position for private interests to maintain integrity of the institution; to limit space for information trading	Internal rules of authorities.	Pre- and post-employment rules.
Conflict of interests (5)	to limit the space for possible abuse of position and office held	Conflict of Interest Acts. Manual for civil servants. Civil Service Act.	Obligations to declare assets; Basic rules on integrity; Independence of the central authority; Rules for gifts and hospitalities.
Disclosures of politicians/senior public employees (12)	to shed light on politicians/senior public employee’s activities; to enable public control; to narrow a space for potential conflict of interest	Civil Service Act. Appointment diaries.	Independence of the central authority from political influence; Timely published data on meetings, events, persons, matters, results; Electronically accessible for the public.
Sunshine principles
Rules on legislative process (17)	to inform who and how participate and intervene in the law-making process	Rules of procedures of chambers.	Bulletin/plan of legislative works.
Rules on decision-making (6)	to inform who and how participate and intervene in the decision-making process	Rules of procedures.	Obligation of public bodies to consult with citizens and other stakeholders before a decision is made; Equal access; Administrative footprint (from politicians’ electronic diaries).
Rules on consultations (10)	to inform who and how participate and intervene in the consultation process before a decision is made	Rules for consultancy.	Obligation of public bodies to consult with citizens and other stakeholders before a decision is made; Online platform for civic participation; Equal access; Request of a meeting with a politician/civil servant by email.
Legislative footprint (6)	to inform who has influenced a certain piece of legislation, how, and when; to improve accountability by allowing voters to monitor lobbying and legislative activities in real time	Lobbyists’ proposals accepted during the legislative process and disclosed records of contacts between lobbyists and public officials.	“Bill's birth certificate”. Information about meetings with lobbyists, including disclosure of interest represented; Time spent on the elaboration of laws.
Open Government Data (12)	to know how and in which quality government proactively provides information on governmental agendas	Public bodies’ websites. National Catalogue of Open Data. Open Data Barometer. Global Open Data Index.	Legal definition on open data; Data sources relevant for policy analysis; Proactive publication of information; Equal access to information and documents for all citizens.
Political parties funding (8)	to inform about income (donations, contributions) and spending (campaigns) of political parties	Political parties funding Act. Campaign financing rules	Transparent banking accounts; Donations by names; Online electoral funding; Disclosure of annual reports on the internet; Independent auditing mechanism; Account of all campaigns.
Freedom of information (10)	to inform about the level of freedom of information	Freedom of Information Act. Global Right to Information. Rating Centre for Law and Democracy.	Systematic monitoring of access to information; Explicit reasons for withholding information; Proactive disclosure; Providing information for re-use.
Monitoring and sanctioning system
Oversight (7)	to detect of misconduct behaviour	Lobbying Acts. Conflict of Interest Acts.	Body and/or mechanism for continuous monitoring of lobbying activities; Publicly available information; Bans on lobbying activities.
Sanctions (13)	to penalize detected misconduct behaviour	Lobbying Acts. Conflict of Interest Acts.	Administrative, financial and/or criminal penalties.

Source: Laboutková, Šimral, and Vymětal (2020, 86–99, 194–200).

Table 2. Comparison of lobbying rules evaluation by CTLE and CPI

	CTLE (max. 121)	CPI (max. 100)
Austria	62,5 (52%)	38
Czech Republic	51,5 (43%)	0
Hungary	39,5 (33%)	0
Poland	65 (54%)	31
Slovakia	53,5 (44%)	6
Slovenia	76,5 (63%)	41

Source: Authors' calculation.

Table 3. Connections among the sub-indicators of institutional quality and the Catalogue of Transparent Lobbying Environment

Report/ Organization	Monitored areas associated with the decision-making process	Transparency of decision-making process – chosen related sub-indicators	Suitable categories of indicators from Catalogue of Transparent Lobbying Environment
Freedom House	Functioning of government on the basis of openness and transparency. Safeguards against official corruption. Rule of law.	Openness and transparency basically answers to the question “Does the government operate with openness and transparency?”	Lobbyists Register: 1-3, 1-4, 1-7, 1-8, 1-10, 1-11, 1-13 Code of Conduct: 2-6 Disclosure of activities: 3-1, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 3-7, 3-9 Targets of lobbying Disclosure of politicians and senior public employees: 7-all 12 indicators Sunshine principles Rules on legislative process: 8-5, 8-6, 8-7, 8-8, 8-9 Rules on decision-making: 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-5, 9-6 Rules on consultations: 10-all 10 indicators Legislative footprint: 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 Open government data: 12- all indicators Political parties funding: 13-4, 13-5, 13-6, 13-8 Freedom of Information: 14-all 10 indicators Monitoring and sanctions Oversight: 15-3, 15-4
Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum)	Transparency. Public-sector performance. Corporate governance.	E-participation is defined as “use of online services to facilitate the provision of information by governments to citizens information by governments to citizens (“e-information sharing”), interaction with stakeholders (“e-consultation”) and engagement in decision-making processes (“e-decision making”)”	Targets of lobbying Revolving doors: 5-7 Sunshine principles Rules on legislative process: 8-5, 8-6, 8-7, 8-9 Rules on decision-making: 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-5, 9-6 Rules on consultations: 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-7, 10-8, 10-10 Legislative footprint: 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 Open government data: 12-2, 12-3, 12-6, 12-8, 12-9, 12-10, 12-12 Monitoring and sanctions Oversight: 15-3, 15-4 Sanctions: 16-6, 16-7, 16-8, 16-9, 16-10, 16-11
Sustainable Governance Indicators	Access to Information Rule of law. Steering capability Citizenś participatory competence. Legislative Actors’. Resources. Parties and interest associations. Independent Supervisory Bodies.	Expert advice basically answers to the question “Does the government regularly take into account advice from non-governmental experts during decision-making?” Summoning experts basically answers to the question “Are parliamentary committees able to summon experts for committee meetings?”	Lobbyists Register: 1-1, 1-3, 1-6, 1-7-, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, 1-13, 1-14 Disclosure of activities: 3-1, 3-4, 3-6, 3-7, 3-8, 3-9 Targets of lobbying Revolving doors: 5-7 Conflict of Interests: 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 Disclosures of politicians and senior public employees: 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4, 7-6, 7-7, 7-9, 7-10, 7-12 Sunshine principles Rules on legislative process: 8-4, 8-5, 8-10, 8-11, 8-12, 8-13, Rules on decision-making: 9-5 Legislative footprint: 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 Monitoring and sanctions Sanctions: 16-9, 16-10, 16-11
Democracy Index (Economic Intelligence Unit)	Electoral process and pluralism. Functioning of government. Political participation Democratic political culture. Civil liberties.	Functioning of government is answered by two relevant questions “Sufficient mechanism and institutions in place for ensuring government accountability.” and “Open and transparent functioning of government with sufficient public access to information.”	Lobbyists Register: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10, 1-13, 1-14 Targets of lobbying Politicians’ and POHs’ Codes of Ethics: 4-all 14 indicators Revolving doors: 5-7 Conflict of Interest: 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 Disclosures of politicians and senior public employees: 7-all 12 indicators Sunshine principles Rules on legislative process: 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-5, 8-6, 8-7, 8-8, 8-9, 8-12, 8-13 Rules on decision-making: 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, 9-4, 9-5, 9-6 Rules on consultations: 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-10 Legislative footprint: 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 Open government data: 12-2, 12-3, 12-5, 12-7, 12-8, 12-11, 12-12 Political parties funding: 13-4, 13-5, 13-6, 13-7 Freedom of Information: 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, 14-4, 14-6, 14-7, 14-8, 14-9, 14-10 Monitoring and sanctions Oversight: 15-3, 15-4, 15-5 Sanctions: 16-5, 16-6, 16-8, 16-10, 16-11

Source: EIU 2019; SGI 2019; WEF 2019a, 2019b, Table S1, constructed by authors.

Laboutková, Š, V. Šimral, and P. Vymětal. 2020. Transparent Lobbying and Democracy. 1st ed. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-36044-3#about.

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