Godny S. Institute of Lobbying in Politics as a Factor of Democratization of Ukrainian Society

The phenomenon of political lobbying as a factor of democratization and its peculiarities in the context of political culture and consciousness of Ukrainian society is analyzed. It is shown that lobbyism, as the personification of positive and negative features, is an important element of society's life: it influences managerial decisions, promotes tone of state authorities and administration, gives them the necessary dynamics and flexibility; emerges as a tool for the self-organization of civil society, provides public support for a bill or opposition to it, has a direct impact on politics; as a specific form of manifestation of political pluralism creates opportunities for securing the interests of the minority; ensures implementation of the principle of freedom in relation to the activities of public organizations, political parties, non-state structures-associations, separate groups of the population, etc.; orienting towards the goals of society, stimulating innovation, inducing concrete actions; promotes the expansion of information and organizational decision making base; appears as an instrument of interaction between the representative and executive branches of government; is a means of reaching compromises and concluding agreements, which contributes to finding a balance between political forces. For the first time, a political and cultural approach to the study of political lobbying in the context of political culture and consciousness of Ukrainian society has been applied. It has been determined that political lobbying is a system and practice for realizing the interests of different groups of citizens, which is specific to the institution of the political system, which determines the mechanism of the influence of private or public organizations – political parties, corporations, unions, etc. - on decision-making by the parliament. The concept of «culture of political lobbying» is described, which means the process of lobbying, which is based on the moral and ethical foundations of society's development, its political culture and mental traditions of society, is mediated by the existing legal and regulatory framework that legitimizes political lobbying in society.