ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of business associations (BAs) in the policy process and, more specifically, the extent to which they conduct policy analysis, primarily focusing on activity in Canada, the UK, the US and Australia. In these countries and those with similar first-past-the-post institutional structures, most BAs are voluntary organizations whose members consist of individual firms. BAs tend to dominate lobbying interaction with federal officials. Seven out of the eight organizations that lobby federal officials most frequently on an annual basis are BAs. The chapter lists these high-interaction BAs, as measured by the number of communication reports filed with the federal lobbyist registry. It also summarizes the policy issues that concern them. The chapter concerns policy analyses of these and similar policy issues. Although BAs engage in extensive lobbying, the chapter focuses on the extent to which they perform policy analysis prior to influencing policy.
