In order to address a lack of transparency, the Chilean government committed to implementing and monitoring the Lobbying Law, which regulates lobbying activities and was the result of citizen consultations.
Problems and Purpose
Past political and financial scandals in Chile had negatively impacted public trust and highlighted the need for stronger regulatory frameworks between government and business in order to improve accountability. In September 2014 in particular, various high-profile corporations were implicated in political scandals. [2] A “lack of transparency in lobby activity and the management of private interests before public authorities in all the organs that make up the State administration” prompted this commitment to regulate the lobby law and train agents for its proper implementation. [1]
Background History and Context
Since 2004, successive Chilean governments have tried to improve transparency and principles of good government through legal initiatives such as the Transparency Act, Government Procurement Act, Declaration Assets and Interest Act, and the Civil Service Reform Act. Former President Michelle Bachelet created an Anti-Corruption Council to specifically focus on public campaign financing initiatives. The Lobbying Act of 2014 and the subsequent commitment to adopt and implement the legislation can be understood in this context. Introduced by the Piñera government as a bill in 2012, “a coalition of civil society organizations of more than 40 NGOs and dozens of public intellectuals played a key role in advocating for the law to be passed.”[2]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Lead Institution: Comisión Defensora Ciudadana y Transparencia, Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia.
Support Institutions: Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia, Consejo para la Transparencia, Ministerio Secretaría General de Gobierno [1]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Know how participants were recruited? Help us complete this section!
Methods and Tools Used
Know what methods or tools were used? Help us complete this section!
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
A product of citizen consultations, the “final version of the regulation was issued in August 2014.”[1]
The implementation process involved training civil servants and officials in the relevant Ministries on transparency and how to implement the lobbying law, creating a technical support system. Conferences were held to evaluate the implementation of the law, but both were behind schedule at the time of the mid-term review of this commitment.[3]
The computer platform to support the law is functioning and public institutions across the country have complied with installing it. This support consists of a web page (https://www.leylobby.gob.cl/) and an email ([email protected]) where officials can request support as required.[1] In the monitoring phase, profiles of officials in the lobby were created for the platform.
1,623 meetings with ministers have been reported on the platform. The “average number of meetings per ministry is 70 in the almost 20 months since implementation of the Lobby Act. However, only nine ministries report 70 or more meetings, and 14 ministries report less.” [2]
“The number of hearings published per month shows an upward trend from November 2014 to October 2015, as a result of this regulation having periods of deferred entry into force for different organs of the State administration. The most significant increase is related to the entry into force of the municipalities and regional councilors as of September 2015. In relation to the internal users of the platform, as of November 2015, 21 515 registered taxpayers were counted, 9,793 current taxpayers, 6,718 technical assistants for current taxpayers and 722 active subjects with voluntary enrollment.”[1]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
“The data suggests that the scope of the relationships between private and public interests has broadened as an effect of the implementation of the Lobby Act. More organizations, big, medium and small corporations, and neighborhood councils, among others, have been able to ask for meetings and meet with authorities. Before the enactment of the law, usually only big corporations and influential interest groups had the means and contacts to access authorities. As of June 2016, more than 16,000 people, entities, and organizations, have been represented in meetings under the Lobby Act. They include corporations, universities, neighborhood councils, professional and commercial societies,labor unions, NGOs, foundations, and schools.” [2]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
The majority of the actors interviewed by the Open Government Partnership researcher indicate that “in addition to the formalization of the relationships between public and private actors there is also a democratizing effect in the implementation of the Lobby Act.” [2] Introducing this law “has gradually changed the rules of the game for interest groups approaching authorities, and it is changing the public perception of lobbying, leading companies to design strategies and take their relationship with decision-makers (for e.g., health-care companies, insurance corporations, pension funds, energy corporations) more seriously. They are thus adjusting their strategies for approaching authorities, and providing transparency and information regarding activities that were opaque in the past.” [2]
Greater transparency has resulted in more limits on what groups can and cannot do. Prior to the Act, there was no data on the meetings authorities held except those voluntarily registered, so there could be no evidence for citizens to demand compliance on commitments agreed to in meetings. [2] However, the mechanism by which citizens can assign responsibility to lobbyists has been criticized as lacking. [1]
Further, “implementation has been uneven among authorities and relies heavily on the political will of authorities or elected officials...interviewees questioned whether all authorities are complying with the law.” [2] Thus, members of Chilean civil society organizations have encouraged greater public dissemination of the law to increase its impact.[1]
See Also
References
[1] Open Government Partnership. (n.d.). Implementation and Monitoring of Lobbying Law. (CL0030). Retrieved from https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/chile/commitments/CL0030/
[2] Sahd, J. and Valenzuela, C. (2016). Lobby Law in Chile Democratizing Access to Public Authorities. Open Government Partnership. Retrieved from https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/report_Lobby-law-in-Chile.pdf
[3] Sanhueza, A. (2017). Independent Reporting Mechanism: Chile Progress Report 2014-2015. Retrieved from https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Chile_IRM_2014-15_0_0.pdf
External Links
Chile Plan de Acción 2014-2016
Independent Reporting Mechanism: Chile Progress Report 2014-2016 [Spanish]