Sometimes it is surprising that we live in a world with artificial intelligence everywhere, quantum computing, vertical take-off cars, and still some aspects of our lives are based on some inefficient mechanism like filing multiple times reports for medical purposes, or that a series or tormented documents have to be presented to start a specific business. Especially when those paths often differ from country to country to a considerable extent. I would recommend you 3 books on the topic instead of reviewing them. I wrote this article so you can follow more the story, and then delve more with them as I cite them.
In theory, regulatory systems exist because a government or an institution introduced a mechanism to protect citizens at some point. However, sometimes those mechanisms appear as the results of specific groups of interest that are lobbying to some degree with institutions and they are more mere bureaucracy than citizen security. In some cases, those lobbying reaches detrimental levels. Elmira Bayrasli in “From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places” reported some cases of startups in Russia that were experiencing several serious issues as they were disrupting some status quo related to some institutions. Indeed, lobbying is the process by which companies (and other interested groups) try to influence government decisions, and very often this results in limiting innovation rather than protecting citizens [1].
Nevertheless, recent history is made of examples of startups that had to not only disrupt an industry but also the regulatory system and lobbying around their area of operation. This did not happen overnight, and in some cases, expert lobbyists were hired by the startup itself. The iconic example of this is Uber: Uber famously involved Bradley Tusk a former adviser to politicians such as Michael Bloomberg. The taxi industry has been historically intertwined with local policies, and proposing a novel service disrupting this ecosystem created little difficulties that required serious networking and social engineering [2]. However, this worked in the US and then has been scaled in many countries, but not all over the world. In Italy for instance, the local legal system has been largely in favour of the taxi industry. More specifically, Uber drivers do not confirm the provisions of the Law 21 of January 15, 1992, and changing this will require a large legal manouvre that even Uber is not able to carry out.
In general, the lobbying system is given by the following inter-dependencies:
Lawmakers are often related to political units, which depend on donors to run campaigns, mostly. Those are often private entities, and it is perfectly legal that they donate large sums to political units. In turn, those private entities provide financial or otherwise support to those lawmakers helping them advance their respective agendas and gain more powers. In successful cases, when the time comes those private-sector groups would expect to be consulted when new rules affecting their interest come up for discussion. It is practically common that private entities (such as large companies or powerful individuals) have therefore some leverage on political decisions [2], the renewable energy industry versus established sectors such as oil and other form of energy is another example [3].
Here is the first book I would recommend to you. There is a book about the whole story of Uber and politics written by Tusk himself, but a more objective view would be Burfield, Evan, and J. D. Harrison. Regulatory hacking: A playbook for startups. Penguin, 2018
The case is more common than you think. I has been estimated that companies as Google or OpenAI had more than 200 meetings with European Commissioners, Members of their Cabinet or Director-Generals, covering a wide range of topics such as copyright, fake news, hate speech and cybersecurity. The figure below gives a summary from self-reported expenditure in lobbying related to the year 2019.
Generally, startups while defining their business plan list other companies as competitors. While this is important, it is not enough. One critical aspect to be taken into account when we want to launch a new social change or startup is to ask ourselves “ Does someone lose power or make less money because of your solutions?”
Organizations or startups should identify a private institution, consortium, or individual that would be damaged if our ideas are successful not necessarily a direct competitor. This is as critical as much as deploying our idea. This will define our power map. We need to identify all players and not only our ideal customer persona.
Fair enough, a group of individuals, for example, minority activists can also mobilize through networking and even lobbying.
Indeed, even if lobbying has always been associated with a negative connotation, the social engineering behavior related to it can be used for the greater good by civil society, social entrepreneur, and even a small group of private citizens in favor of a more sustainable future, for promoting rights of a minority or bridging the divide between classes. This can indeed be called “lobbying for change” [4].
Here is the second text I would recommend: Alemanno, Alberto. Lobbying for change: Find your voice to create a better society. Icon Books, 2017, as it really demystifies lobbying, and explains how civil society and even small groups of individuals can use lobbying to address social issues, without waiting for the “middlemen” elected during normal elections.
In summary, if you are a startup or an NGO you cannot ignore that you live in a larger world. This has been fairly documented in WHO reports and health strengthening reports as well [5].
Instead of tinkering with individual parts, we need to understand how doctors, hospitals, finances, and even the communities they serve, all interact and influence each other. His approach highlights the ripple effects of decisions. For instance, adding more doctors might seem helpful, but if the system lacks sufficient medicine, it could create a bottleneck. In summary, we need a system thinking. The following Figure gives an overview of the possible branching of regulation for a company or NGO interacting in the real world with different regulatory systems. Not always meeting a regulatory entity means hurdles or lobbying, but it is worth considering:
Obviously not everything is lobbying, if we are igniting changes from the bottom, many other aspects are important. It is not explicitly about lobbying but I would recommend the transition companion. Totnes, UK: Green Books (2011), from Rob Hopkins Rob [6], as a complete overview of all the steps a small movement, NGO, or startup has to follow to make a better world.
References
[1] Drutman, L. (2015). The business of America is lobbying: How corporations became politicized and politics became more corporate. Oxford University Press.
[2] Burfield, Evan, and J. D. Harrison. Regulatory hacking: A playbook for startups. Penguin, 2018.
[3] Stokes, Leah Cardamore. Short-circuiting policy: Interest groups and the battle over clean energy and climate policy in the American States. Oxford University Press, USA, 2020.
[4] Alemanno, Alberto. Lobbying for change: Find your voice to create a better society. Icon Books, 2017.
[5] World Health Organization. “Everybody’s business — strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes: WHO’s framework for action.” (2007).
[6] Hopkins, Rob (2011). The transition companion. Totnes, UK: Green Books.