Is Lobbying Effictively Regulated in the Regional Self-governments in Poland? The Cases of Opolskie and Podkarpackie Regional Self-governments

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to examine whether lobbying is effectively regulated in the regional self-governments in Poland. The article analyses two cases: Opolskie and Podkarpackie regional self-governments (2014-2020). For the purpose of the article, three types of material were gathered 1) A legislation regulating lobbying in Poland (the Law on Lobbying); 2) The results of the semi-structured interviews with sixty councilors from both regional chambers; 3) The websites and public social media accounts of the legislators and major lobbyists and the correspondence with heads of the regions’ organizational departments. Two scientific methods were adopted (institutionally-legal analysis and comparative method) to examine the material. An outcome of the research revealed that lobbying is ineffectively regulated. A law does not provide the state with instruments allowing to control the prevailing type of lobbying (“lobbying activity”). Furthermore, neither councilors, nor lobbyists adopted ethical codes of conduct that would establish clear behavioral standards. Moreover, lobbyists have equal access only to the rank-and-file councilors, whereas solely the strongest ones can contact the legislators constituting the regional government.