THE ETHICS OF LOBBYING

Not so long ago, the words lobbying and lobbyist carried no meaning in Polish society. But before they had spread fully into the commercial and political scenes, they had gained numerous negative connotations. Even today, despite the passage of the Act on lobbying activity in the process of law creation, they are associated with corruption, manipulation, the blackmailing of decision makers and with many other socially unacceptable notions. Therefore, to the popular mind, the concepts of lobbying and ethics are opposite expressions, which sound like an oxymoron.

One of the basic motives for bringing in this act was the attempt to eliminate all unethical behaviours which appear at the junction where politics meet business and which have origins in the shady business underworld. The purpose of the act was to create legal regulations which would mean that lobbying activity would become transparent and cease to provoke unnecessary negative reactions in society.

Unfortunately, this law does not resolve all questions of ethics associated with the process of influencing decision makers, although it is very significant in solving many problems which have accumulated. Poland is one of the first countries in the European Union, to have brought in legal instruments to control this activity. In many other countries debates are still under way on the form that this legislation should adopt. Canada and the USA differ, as they have had in place for many years the legal framework allowing citizens to participate through lobbying in the legislative process. A basic question still remains, whether such regulation will entirely eliminate all unwholesome behaviour? Experience from the United States shows that this is not sufficient. Hence, the necessity of the debate concerning ethics in lobbying.

Recognising, analysing and facing up to dilemmas in real-life lobbying, are three ethical aspects of this profession. However, in order to inject ethical principles into the lobbying industry, one must first define such terms as ethics and professionalism. On top of this, questions such as ethical norms and rules require a discussion amongst practitioners of the profession, as well as having theoreticians analysing the ethics underpinning the industry.

Many a practicing lobbyist has had to defend his profession, when forced to confront an opposing skeptic suggesting that ethics and lobbying are contradictions in terms. In fact, critics are quite capable of supplying whole chapters and volumes on the most unpleasant aspects which support such a hypothesis. Lobbying practitioners suffer from the poor reputation described in the opinion columns of daily newspapers. Perhaps it may be necessary to analyse more precisely, why a large part of society has concluded that the practice of lobbying is entirely manipulative in character. The building of an ethical basis for the lobbying profession becomes then a causal factor in changing peoples’ stance with regard to this activity.

Making decisions between good and bad has been a necessity distinguishing human existence over the centuries. Each individual wants to know how to achieve happiness, how to direct his or her life, how to and how not to behave in a specific situation and what is important in the working life. Ethical issues are present in every person’s daily life, and ethics, one of the oldest spheres of human thought, has been attempting to answer these questions and problems for centuries.

The modern era with its rapidly developing technologies and economies characterised by globalisation, presents each person with new and hitherto unknown questions and also throws up new and differing hierarchies of values. Strong competition and clients’ demands make difficult claims on a modern organisation’s management, which cannot just limit itself to formulating strategies for making profits or reaching other objectives but must face up to society’s new expectations. The crises, scandals, bribes, corruption and misconducts, which we are bombarded with daily by the media, mean that today’s client, partner or voter increasingly looks for transparency in the dealings of companies, institutions or politicians.

The word ethics comes from the Ancient Greek ethos meaning differing values, customs and ideals and later took on the meaning of the study of customs and morality. Without going into the rich literature of this subject, let us summarise that the overarching aim of ethics is describing moral obligations and explaining the reason behind moral obligations related to actions. Such a definition places ethics in a domain of knowledge, which should be the regulator of social actions, a barometer of all forthcoming changes and should point out sources of danger as well as methods for their elimination.

In the last umpteen years, current business language has become enriched with new concepts and expressions such as: corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate communication, business ethics, social justice, socially responsible investment (SRI), or human rights (HR). All these terms are to do with a modern approach to the role of the market and the economy, in which a basic element is responsible business, which means ethical business. Only a few years ago, any discussion concerning the possibility of moral behaviour in commerce or in politics, was often sidetracked into a hypothesis concerning the impossibility of being moral in today’s business world. Today, nobody mentions any longer the market as an absolutely immoral mechanism and everyone is able to demonstrate such an argument’s fallacy. All of humankind’s activities, including those in the commercial sphere, are governed by moral norms formulated by society. One cannot undertake business activity without basing its principles of operation on values and regulations accepted by society. Business ethics is, in some ways, an interdisciplinary subject, as it links within it issues from economics, management, sociology, psychology, political science and, of course, ethics.

The term business ethics itself appears in varying contexts. Generally, it is a discipline which impinges on the domains of practical philosophy, and on management activity associated with the economy, banking, trade and with varying types of entrepreneurship. Business ethics is “a systematic study of moral issues (ethos) arising in business, industry and in other types of related activity and institutions: generally, in the reality of human behaviour” (W. Gasparski: Business ethics – portrait sketches, PWN Warsaw 2002, p. 32). This field also includes organisational ethics and management ethics as specialised sections, and more and more often these days, such new areas as marketing ethics, ethics in finance, e-business ethics, public relations, lobbying ethics, etc.

This law concerning lobbying activity in Poland, passed on 7th July 2005, and in force from March of the current year, should gradually start to encourage interested players to undertake activities in an open way and in accordance with the law, since it guarantees them certain rights gained from the moment of formally registering their lobbying activity in the form required by law. In other words, lobbyists acting in accordance with relevant regulations, have by law a guaranteed access to information which is of interest to them, as well as through contact with civil servants, participation in public hearings organised by ministries, in consultative meetings, subcommittees and in Sejm and Senate commissions, as well as taking part in plenary sessions of parliament.

However, although the act has not fully entered into practice, it is already provoking many controversies. According to the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan this act does not resolve all the legal and social issues associated with lobbying, despite the very fact that its significance arises from it allowing the legal creation of lobbying firms which wish to influence the decisions made by legislative authorities during the processes of forming new laws. According to this, a lobbying agency can not only undertake its activity quite legally, but it is also obliged to act in accordance with social and also ethical norms expected by such a society. Professor Winczorek has criticised the law for ascribing control of the lobbying industry to institutions which can themselves be targets of lobbying. The Polish Association of Professional Lobbyists has found fault in the wishful nature of some of certain provisions which were hurriedly passed into law. Other non-governmental organisations fear their already minor role in the legislative process will be eroded still more. Still others regard that the act will not change the negative perception of the lobbyists profession in Poland.

The articles of the Polish Constitution, and the rights which follow from the law on access to public information, give quite widely defined access in this matter to each citizen of the Republic of Poland. So the objective of the regulation of the lobbying profession was to weaken the impact of the underworld active in this field and to encourage the practice of lobbying in an open and transparent way. However, regulations governing lobbying activity will not by themselves resolve the problems which this industry is facing. In order to erase the negative picture of a lobbyist as a bribe-giver, the law must be strengthened by the self-regulation of the lobbying profession. It must be in its interest to gain the trust of its recipients and of public opinion by purging itself of its negative aspects and, as a consequence, ridding itself of the bad image associated with the word “lobbying”.

Some steps have already been undertaken with the formation in 2003 of the Polish Association of Professional Lobbyists and the Lobbyists Professional Code of Ethical Conduct accepted by the organisation’s members. However, one is disappointed to find that a web-site detailing the associations’ activities, does not yet exit. One can only find references to the organisation itself and its meetings on pages concerned with the public relations profession (which is, obviously, proper, since lobbying is one of the tools of PR). It is a pity that no internet page exists and that there is no internet discussion forum on this topic, since such platforms would allow the gradual breaking down of existing prejudices. One must start from the lobbyists’ professional milieu itself, as nothing serves more to form an image as the industry’s representatives. Lobbyists have lots of work to do: to overcome their negative image, to educate Polish society in what lobbying is about, to build a strong organisation which will defend the good name of the profession, to put into life the code of professional conduct, to lobby for improvements in the exiting law on lobbying activity..

Lobbying should be an activity carried on not only in accordance with the existing law but also with generally existing moral norms. Then, it will have a chance to eliminate the conflict perceived by society between lobbying and ethical activity.

Apart from the above mentioned activities such as the development of the association itself, and the public promotion of the code of the professional code, education must play an important role. The existence of postgraduate studies in lobbying at the Collegium Civitas in Warsaw is not enough. What is needed is a systematic education of the worlds of business and politics thanks to which society will be able to understand that ethical lobbying is in the interest of civil society. In this way, alongside the infrequent political elections which take place, it may legally influence decisions made by the legislative and executive bodies.

Lobbying and ethics must go together hand-in-hand and not separately. Practitioners of this profession know that unethical activity leads to ruin. To prevent these two words, when placed together, from being treated as an oxymoron, professional lobbyists must not only lobby for a clearer law regulating their rights and obligations, but they must also define precisely their profession, setting out the ethical standards and educational requirements which should be adopted. The transparency of their actions will depend on the transparency of the norms and values observed by their profession.