Lobbying access during the Covid-19 pandemic: An analysis of communication frequency between interest organisations and political gatekeepers in Denmark and Sweden

This chapter assesses how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the communication frequency between interest organisations and political gatekeepers in the media, government, parliament, and bureaucracy in Denmark and Sweden. Based on cross-national survey data, it analyses how lobbying access to these important arenas of policy debate has changed after the outbreak of Covid-19. While there is only minor variation between the political arenas and countries, three clear findings stand out: 1) access to policy debates
remained relatively stable: for over 60 per cent of organisations, lobbying
access did not change in the first months of the pandemic; 2) access after the
outbreak of the pandemic is strongly related to pre-pandemic access, meaning
it favours previous insiders; and 3) access still changed for a considerable
share of organisations. Especially organisations that considered themselves
more heavily affected by the crisis enjoyed more lobbying access during the
pandemic than less-affected organisations.