Lobbyism i kommunpolitiken : En intervjustudie om hur kommunpolitiker uppfattar lobbyismoch påverkansaktörer

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how municipal politicians understand lobbying and perceive its democratic consequencesin Swedish local politics. While previous research has mainly focused on lobbyists, lobbying strategies, and national or supranational contexts, less attention has been paid to how municipal politicians themselves perceivelobbying. The study addresses this gap by analysing how politicians describe lobbying, how they evaluate its democratic risks and benefits, and whether these perceptions vary depending on political assignment and ideological position.The study is based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with municipal politicians in one Swedish municipality. The analysis focuses on two dimensions: differences between politicians with and without leading political assignments, and differences between left- and right-wing politicians in their assessment of profit-driven andnon-profit actors.The findings show that municipal politicians hold an ambivalent view of lobbying. Lobbying is described as asource of knowledge and local insight, but also as a potential democratic problem linked to unequal influenceand lack of transparency. Politicians with leading assignments report more extensive contact with externalactors. Ideological position appears important: left-wing politicians express greater scepticism toward profit-driven actors. The thesis contributes to research on lobbying by highlighting how lobbying is understood and evaluated at the municipal level.