ASTK18437U Political Advocacy, Lobbying and the Influence Production Process
Full-degree students enrolled at the Department of Political Science, UCPH
- MSc in Politcal Science
- MSc in Social Science
- MSc in Security Risk Management
- Bachelor in Political Science
The course is open to:
- Exchange and Guest students from abroad
- Credit students from Danish Universities
- Open University students
Notice: It is only possible to enroll for one course having a 3-day compulsory written take-home assignment exam due to coincident exam periods.
This course is very similar to one of the core courses in the European Politics specialization, but will now be offered separately as an elective.
Notice: It is not possible to enroll this elective, if you have passed exam in the specialization, "Important Challenges in European Governance: Lobbying and Interest Groups" previously, due to overlap in syllabus and content. It will also not be possible to register for the specialization in future semesters if you have passed the exam in this elective.
Det kan ikke lade sig gøre at tage dette kursus, hvis man har taget specialiseringen "Important Challenges in European Governance: Lobbying and Interest Groups", i E23 eller tidligere, da der er for stort overlap i pensum og indhold. Det vil heller ikke være muligt at tilmelde sig specialiseringen i kommende semestre, hvis man har bestået eksamen i dette valgfag.
Input from different social and economic groups, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), labour unions, associations of professionals, business associations and individual firms, is a vital ingredient in the policy process. Throughout it, different types of interest organisations share information with political gatekeepers, advocate for and ‘frame’ their positions, and/or try to mobilise their members or the broader public for a given cause. In this way, they might – individually or collectively – exert influence on the political agenda and/or formulation of specific policies.
In this course, we follow this process of how lobbyists potentially influence public policy. After discussing what we mean by ‘interest organisations’, ‘advocacy’, and ‘lobbying’, as well as understanding how and why societal interests are organised and attract members (PART 1), we follow different phases of the ‘influence production process’ on new policy issues (PART 2). Moreover, we have a closer look at the ‘lobbying toolbox’, including lobbying in coalitions, framing, and social media strategies, as well as taking into account input from practitioners in public affairs (PART 3). The course closes with the design of a lobbying strategy (informed by the course literature), as well as normative reflections about the effects of lobbying and the design of regulation to enhance transparency (PART 4).
The course has a strong focus on academic literature on lobbying in European countries, supplemented by practical exercises and guest speakers that give insights into the day-to-day considerations of lobbyists in the Danish context.
Part 1: Introduction and Conceptualisation
1. The Role and Politics of Interest Organisations: An Overview
2. Understanding Communities of Interest Groups
Part 2: The Influence Production Process
3. Issue Mobilisation
4. Inside Lobbying Strategies: Targeting Political Institutions and decision-makers
5. Outside Strategies: Lobbying the public & the media
6. Access to Gatekeepers
7. Influencing Policy Outputs: Access, Success and Power
Part 3: Other Items in the Lobbying Toolbox
8. Practitioners’ perspectives: Lobbying Strategies (in-house)
9. Argumentation and Framing
10. Social Media as a weapon of the weak?
11. Lobbying in Coalitions
12. Practitioners’ perspectives: Public Affairs Companies
Part 4: Re-cap & Conclusions
13. Strategy Game: Design a Lobbying Strategy
14. Conclusions: Normative Evaluations of Lobbying
Knowledge:
At the end of the course students will have learned to:
- Give an account of the role of non-state actors in policy making, taking organisation-, issue- and institution-level factors into account
- Understand the main perspectives on the interest production process in terms of mobilisation, strategy choice, access to political gatekeepers and, potentially, influence on policy outcomes
- Identify and describe sources of bias in interest representation
Skills:
Students will have trained the following skills:
- The ability to apply theoretical perspectives on the relationships between policy-makers and organised interests
- The ability to select and evaluate suitable methods to assess the role and success of organised interests
- The ability to develop a lobbying strategy based on insights from the academic literature
Competences:
Students should have fostered the following competences:
- Independent reflection on interest representation and the role of lobbyists in policymaking
- Critical analysis of the scope, nature and/or effect of the involvement of organised interests in decision-making, including the formulation of theoretical expectations and observable implications
- Evaluation of the benefits, challenges and implications of the activities of organised interests on modern decision-making
(Readings cover 900+ pages)
Textbook
- Crepaz, M. Junk, W. M., Hanegraaff, M. and Berkhout, J. (2022). Viral Lobbying. Mobilisation, Strategies, Access and Influence During the COVID-19 Pandemic. De Gruyter.
Class participation then involves a) discussing several book chapters and research articles during classes (guided by the teacher) and b) participating in (group) exercises to apply arguments, findings or lobbying tools in practical terms. The exam will include both of these elements by asking students to reflect on empirical material based on theories and methods from the course.
- Category
- Hours
- Class Instruction
- 28
- Total
- 28
Individual feedback on the exam is available orally during my office hours (see website).
When registered you will be signed up for exam.
- Full-degree students – sign up at Selfservice on KUnet
- Exchange and guest students from abroad – sign up through Mobility Online and Selfservice
- Credit students from Danish universities - sign up through this website.
- Open University students - sign up through this website.
The dates for the exams are found here Exams – Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)
Please note that it is your own responsibility to check for overlapping exam dates.
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written examination
- Type of assessment details
- 3-day compulsory written take-home assignment
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Re-exam
- In the semester where the course takes place: Three-day compulsory written take-home assignment
- In subsequent semesters: Free written assignment
Criteria for exam assesment
- Grade 12 is given for an outstanding performance: the student lives up to the course's goal description in an independent and convincing manner with no or few and minor shortcomings
- Grade 7 is given for a good performance: the student is confidently able to live up to the goal description, albeit with several shortcomings
- Grade 02 is given for an adequate performance: the minimum acceptable performance in which the student is only able to live up to the goal description in an insecure and incomplete manner
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- ASTK18437U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterBachelor
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
Study board
- Department of Political Science, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Political Science
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinators
- Wiebke Marie Junk (11-7a6c68656e68316d78716e436c6976316e7831676e)