The Constitutional Right to Lobby on the Two Sides of the Atlantic: Between Freedom and Democracy

The article reviews the main constitutional arguments for the protection of lobbying brought about in the United States and in the European Union, putting such arguments in a legal history context. After explaining the relevance and topicality of the study of lobbying from a constitutional law perspective (Part 1), attention is paid to the issue of properly defining lobbying (Part 2). The article then outlines the key features of the law of lobbying in the two legal systems considered (Part 3), and then links this analysis with some broader reflections on free speech and democracy in the two areas considered, in order to show how different is the way in which the two areas conceptualize a constitutional `right to lobby' (Part 4). The final paragraph offers some concluding remarks, making a few policy recommendations (Part 5).