This thesis deals with promoting of the interests in the area of genetically modified organisms. The aim is to analyze the activities of interest groups in the area and affect different approach of governments to GMO in the USA and Europe. The work is structured into four parts. The first chapter theoretically defines interest groups and lobbying. The second chapter is devoted to genetically modified organisms and the differences between the EU and the USA in the legislation, the extent of cultivation and the approach of governments. The third chapter deals with Monsanto - the company that dominates the amount of interest groups in this area. The fourth chapter presents a case study of the problem of genetically modified maize in Europe. Just on the case of genetically modified maize can be seen in the European Union activities interest groups, approach of member states and European Union approach.

The aim of this Master thesis is to find out whether the lobbying carried out by Amnesty International France as NGO is different from the lobbying carried out by professional lobbying organizations, which means the organizations which promote primarily the interests of its own members. From the general theory of lobbying and theory of lobbying of NGOS the tools for creating pressure on politics was chosen and factors which could influence usage of these tools were identified. Then it was verified if these tools are really used by Amnesty International France and by which factors the tools are picked up. Expected result of this research was that lobbing of Amnesty International France as NGO is specific because of different circumstances, reasons and goals of lobbying from the professional lobbying. From the results of interpretation of Amnesty International France's documents and interviews with persons involved in the lobbying strategy imply that this NGO really choose some different tools from professional lobbying and is influenced by different factors. But there are also similarities.

Diploma thesis "US lobbyists in the EU: significance of home country regulation for lobbying behaviour in a less regulated environment" tackles the topic of lobbying in terms of comparing two differently regulated environments and the behaviour of lobbyists in these environments. In the introduction, the thesis analyses the current definitions and theoretical anchoring of the expert debate on lobbying, attempts to define this concept and to determine the basic research characteristics. The thesis attempts to describe why lobbying should be regulated and how is affected by lobbying transparency enhancement debate. Subsequently, the thesis describes and compares the regulation of lobbying in the United States and the European Union, while also taking into account international standards. The empirical part of the thesis is based on data provided by the American research center "Center for Responsive Politics". From this basic dataset, the companies and associations that lobby in the United States and the European Union, in particular, their basic documents and websites, are then researched based on established criteria. The aim of the thesis is to analyse whether companies and associations lobbying in a more regulated environment of the United States of America are transferring their 'taught'...

The thesis "Lobbying and its regulation in the Czech Republic" deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of lobbying regulation. Its aim is to make a comprehensive and effective regulation of the campaign for the Czech Republic. It first examines basic terms: lobbying, lobbyists and public officials. It provides a theoretical overview of the lobbying regulation tools. The thesis describes two forms of regulation which are self-regulation and regulation by law. A separate chapter is devoted to demark lobbying from corruption. The following chapter provides an overview of lobbying regulation in the selected countries. This analysis shows the various options and approaches to lobbying regulations, which is reflected in adjustments to the individual states. In practice the use of rights and obligations for lobbyists, a lobbying group or both simultaneously. Attention is also given to attempts made to regulate lobbying in the Czech Republic. So far, however, none of them have been applied in practice. Based on findings from previous chapters and assessment of the state regulation of lobbying in the Czech Republic, there are suggested basic principles of regulation for this activity. The final chapter presents the outcome of the thesis and gives us a specific list of measures that are...

The diploma thesis "Media Image of Lobbying" focuses on the issue of the media image of lobbying and lobbyists in the newspapers Mladá fronta Dnes and Právo in the year 2008. Lobbying is an activity which the majority of population experiences through the media only. The media may thus greatly influence the way the public perceives and evaluates lobbying. In the first part of the diploma thesis the question of the media presentation of reality are introduced and the factors which influence the form of the media content are outlined. The paper further deals briefly with the effect the media have on the population and with the agenda-setting concept. Then the definition of lobbying is given, as well as the reasons and conditions for its positive and negative reputation. Positive and negative functions of lobbying are pointed out and various types and forms of lobbying are presented including indirect lobbying, which is associated with PR activities. In the research part of the paper the results of the quantitative research are presented. The aim of this research was to discover the most frequent types of lobbying and lobbyists in the newspapers studied. The qualitative frame analysis then shows the ways in which lobbying and lobbyists are presented in the media. The appendix to the paper contains a codebook...

La thèse examine les tentatives de professionnalisation et d’institutionnalisation du lobbying en Pologne et en République tchèque du début des années 1990 à 2016, en utilisant le cadre théorique de la sociologie des professions, de la sociologie de l’action publique et l’analyse interprétative des politiques publiques. Tout d’abord, sur la base d’une analyse statistique des trajectoires professionnelles de quatre-vingts lobbyistes consultants polonais et tchèques, elle présente leur typologie commune aux deux pays et montre comment sont liés les efforts de reconnaissance et d’amélioration de leur statut professionnel à leur poursuite de la légitimité politique. Ensuite, elle s’attache à montrer comment le lobbying a été construit comme un problème politique, analysant l’évolution de l’usage de ce terme dans la presse, les scandales politiques emblématiques liés au lobbying, ainsi que les débats parlementaires et débats d’experts. En analysant la mise sur agenda du lobbying comme problème, la thèse accorde une attention particulière au rôle des acteurs transnationaux dans ce processus. Enfin, les processus de régulation du lobbying sont analysés comme des arènes où la frontière symbolique entre les sphères publique et privée est négociée et redéfinie. / The dissertation examines attempts to professionalize and institutionalize lobbying in Poland and the Czech Republic from the beginning of the 1990s to 2016, using the theoretical framework of the sociology of professions, the sociology of public policy-making and interpretive policy analysis. First, on the basis of a statistical analysis of the professional paths of eighty Polish and Czech commercial lobbyists, it presents their common typology for both countries and shows how efforts to gain recognition and enhance their professional status, i.e. efforts to professionalize lobbying, are linked to their pursuit of political legitimacy. Then it analyses the construction of lobbying as a policy problem, analysing the evolution of its use in the press, emblematic political scandals related to lobbying, as well as debates in parliamentary and policy expert fora. It then explores the conditions under which lobbying in both countries was constructed as a problem and set on the agenda. In doing so, the dissertation pays particular attention to the role of transnational actors in this process. Finally, lobbying regulation processes are analysed as arenas where the symbolic boundary between the public and private spheres is negotiated and redefined. / Práce zkoumá pokusy o profesionalizaci a institucionalizaci lobbingu v Polsku a v České republice od začátku 90.-tých let 20. století do roku 2016, z hlediska sociologie profesí, sociologie tvorby veřejných politik a také jejich interpretativní analýzy. Nejdříve na základě analýzy profesních drah osmdesáti polských a českých lobbistů předkládá společnou typologii lobbistů konzultantů pro obě země a ukazuje, jak snahy o získání uznání a zlepšení profesního statusu, tedy snahy o profesionalizaci lobbingu, souvisejí se snahou o získání politické legitimity. Pak uchopuje lobbing jako specifický způsob politizace polické aktivity soukromých aktérů. Ukazuje, za jakých podmínek byl lobbing v obou zemích coby problém konstruován a nastolen na agendu, jakou roli v této politizaci sehrály mezinárodní organizace a externí aktéři, a konečně, jakým způsobem tyto pokusy o regulaci lobbingu participují na redefinici symbolické hranice mezi veřejnou a soukromou sférou.

Lobbying - Economic and Legal aspects Abstract The diploma thesis deals with lobbying and its economic and legal aspects. The aim of the thesis is to present lobbying from a broad perspective in the context of other regulations by using descriptive, comparative and analytical methods and to provide a comprehensive overview of the development of efforts to regulate lobbying in the Czech Republic. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the last governmental regulatory initiative where I am testing a hypothesis of whether the underway regulation is systemically correct in light of examples in other countries. I also conducted two surveys aimed at finding out the attitudes of members of the law academia and members of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to the regulation of lobbying in the Czech Republic. The data serve both to (i) illustrate the interpretation of lobbying across the work, (ii) but also because of the specific proposed variant of lobbying within the framework of the approved substantive intent of the lobbying law (the deadline for submitting a paragraph to the government is set to end 2018), and (iii) I believe that they can be useful even when finalizing the bill, or other later proposed measures under the de lege ferenda considerations on lobbying. The thesis is...

This diploma thesis looks at lobbying as one of the tools for shaping European legislation. Lobbyists are often perceived as carriers of valuable information that make it possible for decision-makers to get expert opinions and perspectives directly from the industry. Lobbyists can therefore make a significant contribution to policy making and to improving European legislation that meets the needs of stakeholders. The main objective of the thesis is to find out in what way and at what stages the interest groups participate and intervene in the EU decision-making process and identify the access points through which they can enter into the legislative process. For the sake of clarity, this research is applied to a particular case of lobbying in the field of animal testing of cosmetics, which has greatly influenced the legal regulation of the area.

The subject of this thesis is regulation of lobbying in the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) -- specifically statutory regulation of lobbying. The work gives a comprehensive overview of the development of regulation of lobbying in V4 member states from the very beginning until now. Main aim is to answer questions related to lobbying such as: "is there a lobbying regulation in V4 members", "what is the quality of that regulation" and "is there any common signs shared across the national regulation of lobbying". To achieve the desired objective thesis uses descriptive, comparative and analytical methods. Thesis consists of two main logical units, which are divided into five chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. The first unit contains three introductory chapters. This section is devoted to the history of lobbying, the definition of lobbying and theoretical concepts of regulation of lobbying. The second unit is completely dedicated to the legal regulation of lobbying in the V4 countries. Part of this unit is also the final comparison and analysis of the legal regulation of lobbying in these countries and answers to questions mentioned in the introduction.

The diploma thesis aims to contribute to the clarification of the process of shaping new EU climate and energy policy and to describe European lobbying groups entering in the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework policy-making process. The thesis aims to assess influence and participation of selected lobbying groups in this policy-making process. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the theoretical aspects of energy policy, further it provides the definition of basic terms and description of the EU legislative process in terms of lobbying. The second chapter explains energy policy in the context of fight against climate change and defines this issue at international and European level. The last chapter of the thesis deals with the current policy-making process of the 2030 policy framework for climate and energy and specifically focuses on lobbying activities and the intensity of lobbying impact of selected political, governmental and social actors according to the classification of interest groups by Howlett and Ramesh.