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Lobbying and Democratic Governance in Canada

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Abstract

This article introduces readers to the Lobbying and Democratic Governance in Canada (LDGC) research project. We describe the project’s origins and objectives as well as the types of information within the LDGC dataset, including data gathered from one of the most comprehensive and systematic lobbying registries in the world. We then review the methodological and theoretical contributions of research that have thus far come out of the project. Finally, we consider why the LDGC data will be of interest to international scholars whose research might not normally cover Canada. First, we identify unique aspects of the LDGC data compared to data used by researchers from other countries and explain how the LDGC allows researchers to investigate some, as of yet, unanswered questions about the nature of lobbying and the role it can play in modern governance. Second, we identify similarities between the LDGC and data used in extant research and consider how scholars can use the LDGC to engage in more comparative thinking about differences and similarities in the nature and role of lobbying across political systems.

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Notes

  1. For more information on the legal definition of “designated public office holders,” see: https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/en/rules/the-lobbying-act/advice-and-interpretation-lobbying-act/communicating-with-designated-public-office-holders/.

  2. The code required to build the LDGC dataset will be made available on the website: https://www.lobbyingdemocracy.com/.

  3. This category includes citizens’ associations, charitable associations, environmental associations, human rights associations and other types of social welfare associations.

  4. https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/Home.aspx?Language=E.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

    Maxime Boucher

  2. School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

    Christopher A. Cooper

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  1. Maxime Boucher
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  2. Christopher A. Cooper
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Correspondence to Maxime Boucher.

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Boucher, M., Cooper, C. Lobbying and Democratic Governance in Canada. Int Groups Adv 11, 157–169 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41309-021-00133-0

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