Phil Parvin

Loughborough University, Department of Politics, History and International Relations, Faculty Member

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I am a Senior Lecturer in Politics in the Department of Politics, History, and International Relations, Loughborough University. I am a specialist in political philosophy, with research interests in contemporary political philosophy, British politics, and public policy. I have written two books: Karl Popper (Continuum Press, 2010), and Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction (London: Hodder, 2012 & New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013). I am currently writing a book on the political theory of lobbying in liberal democratic states.

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Books by Phil Parvin

Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction

Karl Popper

The book explores the influence of Popper’s work on liberal and conservative political thought, a... more The book explores the influence of Popper’s work on liberal and conservative political thought, and locates his work within contemporary debates in Anglo-American political philosophy and social thought. It critically assesses Popper's work, and draws upon the work of other thinkers and political philosophers in order to evaluate his place in the wider liberal and conservative traditions and the contribution his ideas make to wider normative debates about freedom, equality, and social justice.

Papers by Phil Parvin

Hidden in Plain Sight

Routledge eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

What role, if any, should lobbyists play in a democracy? More specifically, how much power should... more What role, if any, should lobbyists play in a democracy? More specifically, how much power should unelected individuals and organisations have to influence the course of politics in democratic states? The question is crucial and urgent: the story we are used to telling ourselves about democracy is simplistic and untrue. According to that story, power is held by citizens who voluntarily entrust it to professional representatives who wield it on their behalf through institutions bound by constitutional rules which hold them in check. In reality, vast power is held by unelected organisations which exist beyond the scope of democratic checks and balances and scrutiny. Democratic institutions were primarily designed to scrutinise and regulate the exercise of a certain kind of power: power which is unitary, legitimated through democratic mechanisms like the vote, and exercised by elected politicians. They were not designed to police the exercise of power which is disaggregated across numerous majoritarian and non-majoritarian institutions, not legitimated by votes, and not exercised by politicians. They were not designed to curb the kind of power held by unelected organisations that can, over the long term, warp our democratic norms in ways which concentrate power and influence among the wealthy, structurally entrench social and economic inequalities, and stifle opposition. But this is what has happened in democracies across the world. If we adopt Chari and Kritzinger's standard definition of a lobbying organisation, 'whether motivated by economic, professional, or public concerns, as 'any group, or set of actors, that has common interests and seeks to influence the policy making process in such a way as their interests are reflected in public policy outcomes,' we can see just how widespread the practice is (Chari et al. 2019, 3). There has been an explosion in the number and influence of lobby groups in the UK and elsewhere over the past half-century, and a concurrent explosion in the amount that these organisations spend on influencing decision-makers. In 2002, Google spent less than $50,000 on lobbying Washington.

Phil Parvin

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