Science Under Fire

Why Universities and Research Institutions Must Lobby for Democracy

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

lobbying; strategic communication; public affairs; universities; research institutions; democracy

Abstract

Universities and research institutions play a central role in democratic societies, yet their political voice is often weak. While economic actors routinely engage in lobbying, political interest representation by scientific organizations remains under-theorized and normatively disputed, particularly in Germany. This study addresses this gap by reconceptualizing lobbying as a legitimate form of political communication for universities and research institutions.

Building on a multi-level perspective, the article defines lobbying as organized, interest-driven communication directed at political actors and embedded in reciprocal dynamics between society, organizations, and individuals. From this perspective, the articulation of organizational interests is not opposed to the common good but constitutes a mechanism through which organizations position themselves, justify their claims, and build legitimacy within democratic systems. Lobbying is understood as an integrated element of strategic communication, including public and non-public forms of political influence.

Empirically, the study employs a mixed-methods design. Eighteen qualitative expert interviews informed the development of a quantitative survey of 645 universities, research institutions, and scientific associations in Germany. In total, 120 fully completed questionnaires were included, corresponding to an overall response rate of 19%. The findings reveal fragmented structures, limited strategic coordination, and a strong concentration of lobbying activities at the level of institutional leadership, alongside weak scientific alliances.

The article introduces the Lobbying Cycle as an integrative framework. It argues that proactive and professional lobbying by universities and research institutions is essential not only for organizational interests, but also for safeguarding the role of science within democratic societies.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Antje Eichler
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/13
TI  - Science Under Fire
BT  - Proceedings of the FIREtalk Conference - Research on FIRE! (research-on-fire 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 257
EP  - 273
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_18
ID  - Eichler2026
ER  -