Research Symposium

BIO

Sofia Arango is a first generation college student and Political Science major in the Presidential Scholars Program. Originally from Miami, Florida, she spent much of her childhood growing up in Medellín, Colombia. She is interested in research that explores the intersection of public policy, lobbying, and government decision making. Sofia currently serves as a legal intern and plans to attend law school to pursue a career as an attorney. She is also committed to community engagement and volunteers at the FSU Food Pantry and in voter registration initiatives.

Transparency in Florida Lobbying

Abstract

Across the counties of Florida, there is significant variation in how lobbying records are maintained and made available. Lobbying, attempting to influence legislative processes through oral or written communication, is an essential part of the legislative process, and registration of lobbyists is important for transparency and accountability in local governments. This research utilized online county websites to examine the gaps in the current lobbyist database across all 67 counties of Florida. By accessing each website on a 6-factor scale, each county was assigned a transparency score, and then transparency scores were compared across counties. Results found that the overwhelming majority of Florida counties lack a lobbyist database. Out of those that do provide a database, many scored low on the transparency scale due to difficulty of website navigation, lack of contact information, little historical lobbying data, etc. By assessing and comparing these record differences, this research demonstrates how the overall lack of lobbyist data decreases accountability of local governments, can create a sense of distrust among the government and constituents, and prevents constituents from knowing who influences local government decisions. Additionally, this lack of transparency makes it hard for citizens to be informed when voting for politicians and propositions. Based on the research collected, this project helps bring more transparency and accountability to and begins to close gaps in lobbyist data collection.

Keywords: Political Science, Lobbying, Policy, and Lobbyist.