Conor Mcgrath
Biographic Data
| ID | 4097971 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Conor Mcgrath |
| GIVEN NAMES | Conor |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcgrath |
| SIGNATURE | MCGRATH C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Ulster |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8805-3996 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 110 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Public Affairs: A field's maturation from 2000+ to 2030
This paper explores the development of the field of public affairs (PA) through the observations, research and experiences of two of its most cited scholars, deputy editors, and longtime contributors to the Journal of Public Affairs . We examine how PA and its practitioners have moved non‐linearly from 2000+ PA, to Public Affairs 2.0, toward a still evolving model of practice. Three areas of practice are explored in depth, including (a) how the f…
British Lobbying in Newspaper and Parliamentary Discourse, 1800–1950
Lobbying is a significant component of the modern politics industry in Britain, but we know relatively little about its historical origins and evolution. This article draws on parliamentary debates and three databases which together account for 51 newspaper titles, in order to explore how lobbying was discussed in parliament and the media between 1800 and 1950, and to gauge the growing professionalisation of lobbying. Perceptions of lobbying beca…
Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists, 50 Years On: An Enduring Legacy
Published in 1963, Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists has become indispensable for understanding how lobbying operates and the societal benefits it brings. Milbrath there presented the first detailed survey of lobbying activities, and his findings have been generally affirmed by a range of later studies, although his conviction that lobbying was an essentially benign force which exerted relatively little impact on policy has been more con…
Learning to lobby
They are not my people’: Barack Obama on lobbying and lobbyists
This article traces the development of Barack Obama's sometimes ambiguous and sometimes antithetical attitudes and relationship to lobbyists. During his childhood in Indonesia, his stepfther was a lobbyist for a US oil company. Obama engaged himself in what many would consider to be lobbying in his career as a ‘community activist’ in Chicago. As an Illinois state senator, he befriended lobbyists and enjoyed poker and basketball games with them, i…
Editors’ statement
Political Marketing and Lobbying: A Neglected Perspective and Research Agenda
This article proposes that political marketing and lobbying have much to learn from each other. Both are essentially persuasive forms of communication; both have some basis in more general marketing theory; both involve exchanges, networks, and relationships. However, while much lobbying practice is underpinned or informed by (political) marketing theories, this connection is only rarely made explicit in the literature of either field. Most polit…
Exploring the management of the corporate public affairs function in a dynamic global environment
This paper explores the importance and approach to managing public affairs as an increasingly important external‐facing function in corporations operating in an increasingly complex, interconnected and politicized global business environment. Drawing on evidence gathered from a multi‐site case study of the public affairs function operating within a globally based consumer products company, supplemented by evidence from interviews with public affa…
Charles Weller Kent: The UK's First ‘Parliamentary Lobbyist’ (1913–16)
This article provides the first ever detailed analysis of the work undertaken by the man who seems to have been the first person in the UK to have had 'parliamentary lobbyist' as his job title: Charles Weller Kent. It focuses on Kent's period as the first lobbyist for the National Farmers' Union from 1913 to 1916, and deals briefly with his personal life and his primary careers as a barrister and journalist. Academic work on lobbying and lobbyist…
Lobbying in Ireland: A reform agenda
This article considers the prospects for lobbying regulation in Ireland following that country's February 2011 general election, which produced a new Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition government. Both these parties had published, prior to the election, legislative proposals, which are analysed here. The government has now committed itself to the introduction of statutory regulation, but the precise terms of such a scheme are yet to be decided. Fur…
The curious case of lobbying in Ireland: An introduction
The evolving discipline of public affairs
Approaching the tenth anniversary of this Journal of Public Affairs, as the editorial team we offer this extended literature review as our reflection on the evolution and development of public affairs, both as an academic discipline and a professional practice. It is a necessarily personal and subjective contribution, highlighting the issues and areas which we believe represent significant continuing debates. The article considers how public affa…
The lobbyist with ‘balls of iron and a spine of steel’: Why Ireland needs lobbying reform
In common with most other nations, Ireland currently has no statutory regulation of lobbying activities. Equally, and also in common with many countries, lobbying regulation is becoming a more prominent subject of political debate. This paper considers the pervasive context of political corruption and scandal highlighted by one lobbyist now in jail, analyses various suggestions for lobbying regulation which have been proposed, and concludes with …
Increasing co-operation among Political Science Associations in Europe
This article reports on a survey of seventeen national political science associations in Europe, which was undertaken as part of discussions leading up to the first Annual General Meeting of a European Confederation of Political Science Associations (ECPSA) held in Spain in summer 2008. The survey provides a detailed overview of the landscape of associations which are widely divergent in size and resourcing but which generally attempt to fulfil s…
The development and regulation of lobbying in the new member states of the European Union
This paper focuses on lobbying as a political activity and the emergence of lobbying regulation in 10 new member states of the European Union (EU). The analysis begins with general observations about lobbying in post‐communist states and on the development of lobbying in three of the larger new member states: Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Key to how lobbying will continue to develop in the future in these 10 countries is how it will be …
Irish Political Studies Reader: Key Contributions
Peer-reviewed
Lobbying and the 2006 U.S. midterm elections
Lobbyists are inextricably intertwined with the electoral process in the United States, but rarely have they ever featured so prominently in an election year as in 2006. The midterm elections came at the end of a year in which the political news was often dominated by stories of lobbying scandal, most notably that involving Jack Abramoff. Lobbying was an important issue in many peoples' voting decisions, and moreover one of the immediate outcomes…
Framing lobbying messages: Defining and communicating political issues persuasively
The concept of product positioning is well established in the commercial communication sphere, as are the notions of issue definition and agenda setting in the field of political science. Less thoroughly researched, though, is an area which intersects these two fields—the way in which lobbyists use language in order to frame policy issues so as to position their organization and its policy preferences to greatest effect. Lobbyists consciously fra…
Towards a lobbying profession: Developing the industry's reputation, education and representation
Many academic writers refer to lobbying as a profession. This paper takes issue with that characterization: lobbying is now a well-established occupation, but it falls very far short of having attained professional status. It reviews the generally accepted elements of professionalization, and goes on to explore the ways in which lobbying and lobbyists need to develop in the direction of professionalization. Particular attention is paid to the sel…
The Northern IrelandMinisterial Code
Ministerial codes provide often revealing insights into the formal processes which governments operate internally. A ministerial code can be read as a map of the institutional framework of any particular system of government – an overview of the processes through which public policy is arrived at, and through which a government operates as a cohesive unit. This paper outlines the main areas covered by the Northern Ireland Ministerial Code, highli…
Family Businesses Distributing America's Beverage’: Managing government relations in the National Beer Wholesalers Association
Over the past decade, America's National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has transformed itself from an organisation lacking much political influence into one of the most powerful interest groups on Capitol Hill. The NBWA has been described as “the toughest lobby you never heard of” (Birnbaum 1998: 148). Its strategy over this period provides an ideal case study of how to manage government relations within a trade association. It demonstrates…
Policy making in political memoirs — the case of the poll tax
As a contemporary means of political communication, those memoirs of participants that offer insights into the formulation of public policy are significant resources for researchers. This is even more so when a range of accounts can be examined together and their assertions tested against each other. The development, implementation and ultimate failure of the Poll Tax is a key element of recent British political history. While historians will eve…
The development and regulation of lobbying in the new member states of the European Union
This paper focuses on lobbying as a political activity and the emergence of lobbying regulation in 10 new member states of the European Union (EU). The analysis begins with general observations about lobbying in post‐communist states and on the development of lobbying in three of the larger new member states: Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Key to how lobbying will continue to develop in the future in these 10 countries is how it will be …
Towards a lobbying profession: Developing the industry's reputation, education and representation
Many academic writers refer to lobbying as a profession. This paper takes issue with that characterization: lobbying is now a well-established occupation, but it falls very far short of having attained professional status. It reviews the generally accepted elements of professionalization, and goes on to explore the ways in which lobbying and lobbyists need to develop in the direction of professionalization. Particular attention is paid to the sel…
Framing lobbying messages: Defining and communicating political issues persuasively
The concept of product positioning is well established in the commercial communication sphere, as are the notions of issue definition and agenda setting in the field of political science. Less thoroughly researched, though, is an area which intersects these two fields—the way in which lobbyists use language in order to frame policy issues so as to position their organization and its policy preferences to greatest effect. Lobbyists consciously fra…
The lobbyist with ‘balls of iron and a spine of steel’: Why Ireland needs lobbying reform
In common with most other nations, Ireland currently has no statutory regulation of lobbying activities. Equally, and also in common with many countries, lobbying regulation is becoming a more prominent subject of political debate. This paper considers the pervasive context of political corruption and scandal highlighted by one lobbyist now in jail, analyses various suggestions for lobbying regulation which have been proposed, and concludes with …
Political Marketing and Lobbying: A Neglected Perspective and Research Agenda
This article proposes that political marketing and lobbying have much to learn from each other. Both are essentially persuasive forms of communication; both have some basis in more general marketing theory; both involve exchanges, networks, and relationships. However, while much lobbying practice is underpinned or informed by (political) marketing theories, this connection is only rarely made explicit in the literature of either field. Most polit…
Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists, 50 Years On: An Enduring Legacy
Published in 1963, Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists has become indispensable for understanding how lobbying operates and the societal benefits it brings. Milbrath there presented the first detailed survey of lobbying activities, and his findings have been generally affirmed by a range of later studies, although his conviction that lobbying was an essentially benign force which exerted relatively little impact on policy has been more con…
Exploring the management of the corporate public affairs function in a dynamic global environment
This paper explores the importance and approach to managing public affairs as an increasingly important external‐facing function in corporations operating in an increasingly complex, interconnected and politicized global business environment. Drawing on evidence gathered from a multi‐site case study of the public affairs function operating within a globally based consumer products company, supplemented by evidence from interviews with public affa…
Lobbying in Ireland: A reform agenda
This article considers the prospects for lobbying regulation in Ireland following that country's February 2011 general election, which produced a new Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition government. Both these parties had published, prior to the election, legislative proposals, which are analysed here. The government has now committed itself to the introduction of statutory regulation, but the precise terms of such a scheme are yet to be decided. Fur…
The evolving discipline of public affairs
Approaching the tenth anniversary of this Journal of Public Affairs, as the editorial team we offer this extended literature review as our reflection on the evolution and development of public affairs, both as an academic discipline and a professional practice. It is a necessarily personal and subjective contribution, highlighting the issues and areas which we believe represent significant continuing debates. The article considers how public affa…
They are not my people’: Barack Obama on lobbying and lobbyists
This article traces the development of Barack Obama's sometimes ambiguous and sometimes antithetical attitudes and relationship to lobbyists. During his childhood in Indonesia, his stepfther was a lobbyist for a US oil company. Obama engaged himself in what many would consider to be lobbying in his career as a ‘community activist’ in Chicago. As an Illinois state senator, he befriended lobbyists and enjoyed poker and basketball games with them, i…
Public Affairs: A field's maturation from 2000+ to 2030
This paper explores the development of the field of public affairs (PA) through the observations, research and experiences of two of its most cited scholars, deputy editors, and longtime contributors to the Journal of Public Affairs . We examine how PA and its practitioners have moved non‐linearly from 2000+ PA, to Public Affairs 2.0, toward a still evolving model of practice. Three areas of practice are explored in depth, including (a) how the f…
Increasing co-operation among Political Science Associations in Europe
This article reports on a survey of seventeen national political science associations in Europe, which was undertaken as part of discussions leading up to the first Annual General Meeting of a European Confederation of Political Science Associations (ECPSA) held in Spain in summer 2008. The survey provides a detailed overview of the landscape of associations which are widely divergent in size and resourcing but which generally attempt to fulfil s…
The Northern IrelandMinisterial Code
Ministerial codes provide often revealing insights into the formal processes which governments operate internally. A ministerial code can be read as a map of the institutional framework of any particular system of government – an overview of the processes through which public policy is arrived at, and through which a government operates as a cohesive unit. This paper outlines the main areas covered by the Northern Ireland Ministerial Code, highli…
Policy making in political memoirs — the case of the poll tax
As a contemporary means of political communication, those memoirs of participants that offer insights into the formulation of public policy are significant resources for researchers. This is even more so when a range of accounts can be examined together and their assertions tested against each other. The development, implementation and ultimate failure of the Poll Tax is a key element of recent British political history. While historians will eve…
Learning to lobby
Editors’ statement
Lobbying and the 2006 U.S. midterm elections
Lobbyists are inextricably intertwined with the electoral process in the United States, but rarely have they ever featured so prominently in an election year as in 2006. The midterm elections came at the end of a year in which the political news was often dominated by stories of lobbying scandal, most notably that involving Jack Abramoff. Lobbying was an important issue in many peoples' voting decisions, and moreover one of the immediate outcomes…
Family Businesses Distributing America's Beverage’: Managing government relations in the National Beer Wholesalers Association
Over the past decade, America's National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has transformed itself from an organisation lacking much political influence into one of the most powerful interest groups on Capitol Hill. The NBWA has been described as “the toughest lobby you never heard of” (Birnbaum 1998: 148). Its strategy over this period provides an ideal case study of how to manage government relations within a trade association. It demonstrates…
Policy making in political memoirs — the case of the poll tax
As a contemporary means of political communication, those memoirs of participants that offer insights into the formulation of public policy are significant resources for researchers. This is even more so when a range of accounts can be examined together and their assertions tested against each other. The development, implementation and ultimate failure of the Poll Tax is a key element of recent British political history. While historians will eve…
Family Businesses Distributing America's Beverage’: Managing government relations in the National Beer Wholesalers Association
Over the past decade, America's National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has transformed itself from an organisation lacking much political influence into one of the most powerful interest groups on Capitol Hill. The NBWA has been described as “the toughest lobby you never heard of” (Birnbaum 1998: 148). Its strategy over this period provides an ideal case study of how to manage government relations within a trade association. It demonstrates…
Towards a lobbying profession: Developing the industry's reputation, education and representation
Many academic writers refer to lobbying as a profession. This paper takes issue with that characterization: lobbying is now a well-established occupation, but it falls very far short of having attained professional status. It reviews the generally accepted elements of professionalization, and goes on to explore the ways in which lobbying and lobbyists need to develop in the direction of professionalization. Particular attention is paid to the sel…
The Northern IrelandMinisterial Code
Ministerial codes provide often revealing insights into the formal processes which governments operate internally. A ministerial code can be read as a map of the institutional framework of any particular system of government – an overview of the processes through which public policy is arrived at, and through which a government operates as a cohesive unit. This paper outlines the main areas covered by the Northern Ireland Ministerial Code, highli…
Irish Political Studies Reader: Key Contributions
Peer-reviewed
Lobbying and the 2006 U.S. midterm elections
Lobbyists are inextricably intertwined with the electoral process in the United States, but rarely have they ever featured so prominently in an election year as in 2006. The midterm elections came at the end of a year in which the political news was often dominated by stories of lobbying scandal, most notably that involving Jack Abramoff. Lobbying was an important issue in many peoples' voting decisions, and moreover one of the immediate outcomes…
Framing lobbying messages: Defining and communicating political issues persuasively
The concept of product positioning is well established in the commercial communication sphere, as are the notions of issue definition and agenda setting in the field of political science. Less thoroughly researched, though, is an area which intersects these two fields—the way in which lobbyists use language in order to frame policy issues so as to position their organization and its policy preferences to greatest effect. Lobbyists consciously fra…
Increasing co-operation among Political Science Associations in Europe
This article reports on a survey of seventeen national political science associations in Europe, which was undertaken as part of discussions leading up to the first Annual General Meeting of a European Confederation of Political Science Associations (ECPSA) held in Spain in summer 2008. The survey provides a detailed overview of the landscape of associations which are widely divergent in size and resourcing but which generally attempt to fulfil s…
The development and regulation of lobbying in the new member states of the European Union
This paper focuses on lobbying as a political activity and the emergence of lobbying regulation in 10 new member states of the European Union (EU). The analysis begins with general observations about lobbying in post‐communist states and on the development of lobbying in three of the larger new member states: Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Key to how lobbying will continue to develop in the future in these 10 countries is how it will be …
The lobbyist with ‘balls of iron and a spine of steel’: Why Ireland needs lobbying reform
In common with most other nations, Ireland currently has no statutory regulation of lobbying activities. Equally, and also in common with many countries, lobbying regulation is becoming a more prominent subject of political debate. This paper considers the pervasive context of political corruption and scandal highlighted by one lobbyist now in jail, analyses various suggestions for lobbying regulation which have been proposed, and concludes with …
The evolving discipline of public affairs
Approaching the tenth anniversary of this Journal of Public Affairs, as the editorial team we offer this extended literature review as our reflection on the evolution and development of public affairs, both as an academic discipline and a professional practice. It is a necessarily personal and subjective contribution, highlighting the issues and areas which we believe represent significant continuing debates. The article considers how public affa…
Lobbying in Ireland: A reform agenda
This article considers the prospects for lobbying regulation in Ireland following that country's February 2011 general election, which produced a new Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition government. Both these parties had published, prior to the election, legislative proposals, which are analysed here. The government has now committed itself to the introduction of statutory regulation, but the precise terms of such a scheme are yet to be decided. Fur…
The curious case of lobbying in Ireland: An introduction
Editors’ statement
Political Marketing and Lobbying: A Neglected Perspective and Research Agenda
This article proposes that political marketing and lobbying have much to learn from each other. Both are essentially persuasive forms of communication; both have some basis in more general marketing theory; both involve exchanges, networks, and relationships. However, while much lobbying practice is underpinned or informed by (political) marketing theories, this connection is only rarely made explicit in the literature of either field. Most polit…
Exploring the management of the corporate public affairs function in a dynamic global environment
This paper explores the importance and approach to managing public affairs as an increasingly important external‐facing function in corporations operating in an increasingly complex, interconnected and politicized global business environment. Drawing on evidence gathered from a multi‐site case study of the public affairs function operating within a globally based consumer products company, supplemented by evidence from interviews with public affa…
Charles Weller Kent: The UK's First ‘Parliamentary Lobbyist’ (1913–16)
This article provides the first ever detailed analysis of the work undertaken by the man who seems to have been the first person in the UK to have had 'parliamentary lobbyist' as his job title: Charles Weller Kent. It focuses on Kent's period as the first lobbyist for the National Farmers' Union from 1913 to 1916, and deals briefly with his personal life and his primary careers as a barrister and journalist. Academic work on lobbying and lobbyist…
They are not my people’: Barack Obama on lobbying and lobbyists
This article traces the development of Barack Obama's sometimes ambiguous and sometimes antithetical attitudes and relationship to lobbyists. During his childhood in Indonesia, his stepfther was a lobbyist for a US oil company. Obama engaged himself in what many would consider to be lobbying in his career as a ‘community activist’ in Chicago. As an Illinois state senator, he befriended lobbyists and enjoyed poker and basketball games with them, i…
Learning to lobby
British Lobbying in Newspaper and Parliamentary Discourse, 1800–1950
Lobbying is a significant component of the modern politics industry in Britain, but we know relatively little about its historical origins and evolution. This article draws on parliamentary debates and three databases which together account for 51 newspaper titles, in order to explore how lobbying was discussed in parliament and the media between 1800 and 1950, and to gauge the growing professionalisation of lobbying. Perceptions of lobbying beca…
Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists, 50 Years On: An Enduring Legacy
Published in 1963, Lester Milbrath’s The Washington Lobbyists has become indispensable for understanding how lobbying operates and the societal benefits it brings. Milbrath there presented the first detailed survey of lobbying activities, and his findings have been generally affirmed by a range of later studies, although his conviction that lobbying was an essentially benign force which exerted relatively little impact on policy has been more con…
Public Affairs: A field's maturation from 2000+ to 2030
This paper explores the development of the field of public affairs (PA) through the observations, research and experiences of two of its most cited scholars, deputy editors, and longtime contributors to the Journal of Public Affairs . We examine how PA and its practitioners have moved non‐linearly from 2000+ PA, to Public Affairs 2.0, toward a still evolving model of practice. Three areas of practice are explored in depth, including (a) how the f…
Political science (22 works) · Law (19 works) · Law (17 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies (16 works) · Politics (15 works) · Public Administration (14 works) · Public Administration (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering (7 works)