A transnational encyclopedia on interest groups, lobbying and public affairs designed to satisfy a growing global need for knowledge and in depth understanding of these key political and corporate activities for the researcher, student, policy maker and modern manager.
About the Author: Professor Phil Harris Is Professor Emeritus Marketing & Public Affairs, University of Chester, UK & Professor Extraordinarius at University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria and a Fellow of the Good Governance Institute. He has held a number of senior academic positions and directorships in China, New Zealand and the UK, this included the Westminster Chair from 2009 to 2020 at Chester and a Professorship at University of Otago, NZ. he is recognized for his research on entrepreneurship, strategic public affairs management and political marketing. Phil is founding editor of the Journal of Public Affairs and a member of a number of international editorial and advisory boards and has authored over 300 articles & 20 books. Before becoming an academic he worked in the chemical, food and media industries and has served on a number of boards and taught and advised Businesses and Government in Asia, Europe and North America. Phil holds visiting professorships in China and Germany and currently advises on China, Entrepreneurialism, Public Affairs and Transparency. He is a Freeman of the City of London and holds the CIM Presidents medal for his contribution to developing International business & marketing.
Alberto Bitonti is Lecturer of Political Theory and Political Communication and Post-doc Research Fellow at Università della Svizzera Italiana (Switzerland), Professor of Politics at IES Abroad Rome, and Adjunct Professor of Methodology of Social Sciences at LUISS Guido Carli University (Italy).
He made research or taught in various universities and research institutes (American University of Washington DC, Yale, Umbra Institute of Perugia, Newberry Library of Chicago, IULM, Eurispes, IED, CENSIS, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Università di Urbino, etc.), earning his Ph.D. (Università di Roma Tre, 2011) by developing research on the philosophy of lobbying and the concept of Public Interest. He published Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the lobbying industry in 28 EU countries (Palgrave Macmillan 2017, co-edited with Phil Harris) and Classe dirigente. Il profile del potere in Italia (Datanews 2012), besides various reports and studies on digital democracy and lobbying regulation, in addition to articles and essays in Italian and international books and journals.
Trying to bridge the gap between academic research and policy action, he provides advice to a variety of NGOs, firms, political groups and governments, and works with various organizations promoting open government and innovation in the political world. In Italy, he founded and coordinated the Open Lobby coalition. He is currently leading an international research project on deliberative quality in international organizations.
Craig S. Fleisher, Ph.D. (Pittsburgh), MPRCA, is the Chief Analytics Officer at Aurora WDC (Madison, Wisconsin), Professor (adj.) in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences/Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Deputy Editor of the Journal of Public Affairs, and co-author/co-editor of over half a dozen essential handbooks in the field of corporate public affairs (PA), including the 2019 the SAGE Handbook of International Corporate and Public Affairs. He was formerly President of a national PA association in Canada, a 2x endowed University Research Chair holder, Dean of two business schools, and taught graduate/executive PA courses in Australia, Canada, China, USA, and Switzerland. He advises scores of international market leaders in developing enhanced competencies in CSR, ESG, issues management, nonmarket strategy, reputation management, stakeholder engagement, and strategic approaches to PA.
Professor Anne Skorkjær Binderkrantz is professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University. Her research focuses on the political role of interest groups and she has worked on interest group strategies, the access of interest groups across different political arenas and interest group influence. In addition, she works on political elites, governance of government agencies and teaching evaluations in higher education.
