Alberto Bitonti / Professionista

Alberto Bitonti is Lecturer of Political Communication and Post-doc Research Fellow at Università della Svizzera Italiana (Switzerland), Professor of Politics at IES Abroad Rome, Adjunct Professor of Lobbying & Advocacy at Università di Urbino and of Methodology of Social Sciences at LUISS Guido Carli University (Italy).

He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Political Science at Yale University (New Haven, CT), at the Governance Lab (New York University - Northeastern University, USA), at the School of Public Affairs at the American University (Washington DC), at the Newberry Library of Chicago (IL), and made research and taught in various universities and research institutes in Europe, earning his Ph.D. (Università di Roma Tre, 2011) by developing research on the philosophy of lobbying and the concept of Public Interest.

His research is grounded in political philosophy, political science, and communication studies, with a specific research interest in lobbying and public affairs, open government, and digital innovation.

Editor-in-Chief of the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs (Springer 2019-2022, co-edited with Phil Harris, Craig S. Fleisher, and Anne S. Binderkrantz), he published Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the lobbying industry in 28 EU countries (Palgrave Macmillan 2017, co-edited with Phil Harris) and Classe dirigente. Il profile del potere in Italia (Datanews 2012), besides articles and essays in international books and journals.

Trying to bridge the gap between academic research and policy action, he provides advice to a variety of governmental institutions, NGOs, firms, and political groups, working to promote open government and innovation in the political world. In Italy, he founded and coordinated the Open Lobby coalition. He is currently co-leading an international research project funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies, on deliberative quality in trade-related international organizations.

Books
- Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs (co-edited with Phil Harris, Craig S. Fleisher and Anne S. Binderkrantz), Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2019-2022 (available on line here as live reference work, published in print in June 2022).

- Lobbying in Europe. Public Affairs and the lobbying industry in 28 EU countries (co-edited with Phil Harris), Palgrave Macmillan, London 2017 (www.lobbyingineurope.com).

- Classe dirigente. Il profilo del potere in Italia (Ruling Class. The profile of power in Italy) (co-authored with Gian Maria Fara), Datanews, Rome 2012.

Articles in Scientific Journals (peer-reviewed)

- Did COVID-19 change the political communication of polarizing leaders? The case of Salvini’s campaigning before and after the pandemic (with Rita Marchetti and Claudia Mariotti), «European Journal of Communication», 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231221140697.

- Lobbying, lobby, lobbisti, gruppi di interesse e di pressione: definizioni e problemi concettuali, «Diritto pubblico comparato ed europeo», Vol. XXIV, No. 3, 2022, pp. 463-478, https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.17394/105096.

- Beyond transparency. The principles of lobbying regulation and the perspective of professional lobbying consultancies, «Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica», 2022, https://doi.org/10.1017/ipo.2022.16.

- Chi detta l’agenda? Le dichiarazioni pubbliche dei gruppi di interesse sul Recovery Fund (with Giuseppe Montalbano, Andrea Pritoni and Giulia Vicentini), «Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche», No. 3, 2021, 460-487, https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1483/102157.

- La polarizzazione politica nel campaigning di Salvini. Il caso delle elezioni regionali del 2020 (with Claudia Mariotti, Rita Marchetti and Anna Stanziano), «Comunicazione Politica», No. 2, 2021, pp. 199-222, https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.3270/101609.

- Democrazia digitale e voto a distanza. Fenomenologia di una diffidenza, «Rivista di Politica», No. 1, 2021, pp. 59-66.

- Where it all starts: Lobbying, democracy and the Public Interest, «Journal of Public Affairs», 2020, Vol. 20, Issue 2, e2001, https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2001.