Historically lobbying has been hijacked by special interests since the very beginning. It has been a practice of the few, not a practice of the many. This can change.

The word “lobbying” is very loaded, very negative. When people hear about “lobbying”, they think about dodgy dealings where big corporations are getting the favour of politicians.

“Over the years I’ve been trying to demystify, beautify and potentially democratise lobbying as a legitimate activity. It is essential in any democracy, because it allows the different interests in society to get a voice and to basically let decision-makers know, why they might care about a particular issue.”

Jovana Trifunović in conversation with Alberto Alemanno, one of the leading voices on the democratisation of the European Union, has pioneered innovative forms of academic and civic engagement and activism in the EU transnational space via the civic startup The Good Lobby. The mission of Good Lobby is to equalize access to power by strengthening the advocacy capacity of civil society and making corporate political influence more accountable and sustainable.

This text and video is published under the Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. The name of the author/rights holder should be mentioned as followed. Author: Jovana Trifunović and Igor Bararon / tippingpoint.net. Cover picture: llustration: Norma Nardi

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