User:PanchoS/LobbyControl

LobbyControl – Initiative für Transparenz und Demokratie is a German NGO with headquarters in Cologne, which aims for informing people about structures of power and strategies of influence in Germany and the European Union. It opposes client politics and works towards transparency in politics, democratic control and limits to the influence of lobbyists on politics and the public sphere. It runs the award-winning, Wiki-based online lexicon Lobbypedia documenting instances of lobbyism.

Organization
After a 2004 congress “Guided democracy?” in Frankfurt, which dealt with the influence of neoliberal economic elites on politics and society., a number of participants in May 2005 created the Internet blog Lobbycontrol.de, which turned out to be a large success. Subsequently, LobbyControl was turned from a project into an association in 2006.

The board of directors consists of:
 * Thomas Dürmeier, economist and consultant for attac
 * Heidi Klein, politologist
 * Ulrich Müller, politologist
 * Dieter Plehwe, politologist (Social Science Research Center Berlin)

The association is financed by donations, membership fees, honorariums for talks and conference participations and the sale of own publications such as the “LobbyPlanet” alternative city guides to Berlin and Brussels. LobbyControl also received a 40,000 Euro seed funding grant by the German Bewegungsstiftung foundation. In 2012, LobbyControl had a total budget of 317,759 Euro.

Christiansen Report
In 2006, LobbyControl became widely known in Germany for the Christiansen Report, analyzing both choice of topics and the cast of Germany's then most famous television talk show hosted by Sabine Christiansen. The report exposed evidence that entrepreneurs and representatives of trade associations were widely overrepresented. At the same time, exponents of civil society, labor representatives or heterodox scholars were marginalized resulting in a deeply unbalanced picture of the controversies and different stances present in society. Generally, a neoliberal bias was evident.

Revolving Doors
The 2007 Revolving Doors Report („Drehtür“-Studie) scrutinized the new job positions of 63 members of the former Schröder administration (1998-2005). The report challenged the current revolving door regulations and established criteria for revised regulations.

For reciting the German news magazine Der Spiegel's claim that former Chancellor Schröder would serve as consultant of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he denied, LobbyControl was admonished by court.

Lobbypedia
In October 2010, LobbyControl started the Wiki-based online lexicon Lobbypedia which documents instances of lobbyism. In 2012, Lobbypedia was awarded the prestigious Grimme Online Award.

Publications

 * LobbyPlanet Berlin – der Reiseführer durch den Lobbydschungel (3. Auflage)
 * LobbyPlanet Brüssel – Einblick in den Brüsseler Lobbydschungel (3. Auflage, September 2012)
 * Lobbyismus an Schulen – Ein Diskussionspapier über Einflussnahme auf den Unterricht und was man dagegen tun kann, April 2013, LobbyControl
 * Lobbyreport 2013, Die Lobbyismus-Debatte 2009-2013: Eine Bilanz der schwarz-gelben Regierungszeit, LobbyControl
 * Ulrich Müller, Sven Giegold, Malte Arhelger (Hg.): Gesteuerte Demokratie? Wie neoliberale Eliten Politik und Öffentlichkeit beeinflussen. VSA-Verlag, Hamburg 2004.