Preventing Policy Capture

Integrity in Public Decision Making

This report exposes how “policy capture”, where public decisions over policies are consistently or repeatedly directed away from the public interest towards a specific interest, can exacerbate inequalities and undermine democratic values, economic growth and trust in government. It maps out the different mechanisms and risks of policy capture, and provides guidance for policy makers on how to mitigate these risks through four complementary strategies: engaging stakeholders with diverging interests; ensuring transparency and access to information; promoting accountability; and identifying and mitigating the risk of capture through organisational integrity policies.

Published on March 30, 2017Also available in: Spanish

In series:OECD Public Governance Reviewsview more titles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Foreword and Acknowledgements	Read PDF
Executive summary	Read PDF
No country is immune to policy capture	Read PDF
How does policy capture happen?	Read PDF
Policy measures to prevent policy capture	Read PDF

Key recommendations

Level the playing field: engage stakeholders with diverging interests to ensure an inclusive decision-making process that is more resilient to capture by narrow interests. Promote integrity and transparency in lobbying activities and political financing.

Transparency and accountability: external actors and stakeholders need access to reliable, timely and relevant information in the decision-making process. External control, effective competition and regulatory policies enable accountability in both the public and private sectors.

Identify capture risks: mitigate risks through appropriate organisational integrity policies. Define clear standards of conduct, promote a culture of integrity in public organisations, and ensure a sound control and risk-management framework can help embed organisational resilience to capture.

Influence and Integrity in Policy-Making

Influencing policy-makers is a core part of a democratic system. Lobbyists and advocacy groups bring valuable information to the policy debate. In practice, however, powerful groups can exert influence to further their particular interests, often at the expense of the public interest.

What are the risks of influence and the solutions?

Coalition of influencers

The Coalition welcomes stakeholders from government, business, academia and civil society working on integrity in decision-making related issues. It is designed to serve as an inclusive and non-discriminatory platform to constructively examine the tools and effects of vested interests’ influence on public policy.