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German-Polish Science Foundation funds project „’Knowledge is Power’: Boundaries of Political Consulting and Lobbying in the Political Decision-Making Process” by Prof. Dr. Michael Minkenberg and Dr. Artur Kopka.

The research project was awarded funds of 64.000 € over the next two years by the German-Polish Science Foundation. Project duration: October 2016 – September 2018.

The project is implemented in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Dorota Piontek, Chair of Social Communication at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (AMU).

The project will rely on a broad research network including, among others, Prof. Dr. Werner J. Patzelt (Technische Universität Dresden (TUD)),  Prof. Dr. Andrea Römmele (Hertie School of Governance Berlin (HSG)), Dr. Jaroslaw Janczak (EUV/AMU), Dr. Jürgen Treulieb und Dr. Kamila Schöll-Mazurek (EUV), Dr. Artur Lipinski (AMU),  Dr. Bartłomiej Biskup (University of Warsaw (UW)), Dr. Monika Sus und Dr. Dorota Stasiak (HSG) sowie Dr. Alexandra Moroska-Bonkiewicz (University of Lower Silesia in Wroclaw (NLS)).

Project description:

This research project addresses the issue of the delineation of boundaries between scientific political consulting and lobbying as well as their role in the practice of political decision-making. The investigation focuses on the structures and the functionality of political consulting, the realization of the substantial basis for decision-making with special consideration of the boundary between the scientific political consulting and lobbying. Both the boundary between scientific political consulting and lobbying and the standards for the legitimacy and legality of various consulting operations in the policy-making process are central in this research. The project aims at analyzing whether consultants and lobbyists are influencing political decisions. Furthermore it will look at actions and performances of political actors.  Another field of research will be the structures and legal regulations in the area of political consulting, the subject of the consultation, the tasks and procedures as well as the recruitment and communication styles of different consultants.

By taking up a German-Polish comparative perspective, this pilot project also intends to analyze the similarities and differences in the structure and functioning of political consulting and lobbying in Western and Eastern Europe within their historical and cultural contexts. In this way, the relevant issues pertaining to the problems in those fields shall be identified and explained.

The relevance of political consulting is currently increasing, which can be observed in scientific debates and the fact that this topic is newly found on the agendas of East European EU-Member states, where it has not been found in the recent past. The aim of the project is to develop a comparative study, in order to fill this research gap.

Project-Homepage:

https://www.border-studies.de/web/wim