Interesų grupių poveikis mokesčių sistemai Lietuvos Respublikoje: atvejų analizė

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos interesų grupių įtakos taktikos ir strategijos, jų pasirinkimo teorijos. Pasitelkiant atvejo analizės tyrimo metodą analizuojama Lietuvos ekonominių verslo interesų grupių įtaka mokesčių sistemai ir naudojami poveikio būdai. Išskiriamos dažniausiai Lietuvoje veikiančių ekonominių verslo interesų grupių taikomos įtakos taktikos ir strategijos. Darbe patvirtinamas teiginys apie ribotą interesų grupių naudojamų poveikio būdų spektrą; analizuojamos to priežastys. Išryškinamos neišnaudotos įtakos galimybės. Analizuojamos kliūtys, neleidžiančios interesų grupėms siekti ir pasiekti savo tikslų.The main subject of the analysis is the techniques, tactics and strategies used by organized interests. The work consists of two leading parts: 1) the theoretical part and 2) the survey of two chosen cases. The key purposes are 1) the systemization of various influence techniques and tactics; 2) the collection of material on the economic business interest group activities in Lithuania; 3) the analysis of which influence techniques and tactics are used by them, what are the outcomes and which tactics are the most effective; 4) the analysis of causes influencing the activities and the outcomes; the suggestions on what tactics could be used and useful in Lithuanian political system. The review of organized interest studies, various interest group surveys and the methodological and conceptual problems is presented in the beginning of the first part. Later chapters investigate the various efforts of organized interests to affect political outcomes indirectly by influencing public opinion and election results, and directly by lobbying the legislative and executive branches and by going to court. The multiple techniques that organized interests use to influence decision and non-decision making are systematically presented. The process of choosing a course of political action is divided into three sections: 1) deciding to act at all, 2) deciding what to do and 3) choosing tactics. The choice of tactics depends on: 1 ) the institutional arena in which a political conflict will be waged and 2) numerous considerations, ranging from what is legal to the nature and amount of its recourses. In the last chapter the economic business interest groups are chosen as the most fully and effectively organized interest groups. The reasons of their distinction as such are analyzed, too. In the second part using case study design, two cases of phenomenon are examined in considerable detail, typically using a number of data collection methods, such as personal interviews, document analysis, and observation. The overview of Lithuanian tax system is presented as the subject of the influence of economic interest groups. Then the description and analysis of the two chosen cases (the activities of Lithuanian builders association to influence the reduction of the value added tax for the construction of living apartments and the actions taken against the increasing of excise duty for strong alcohol drinks by Lithuanian breweries association) follows. The analysis confirmed the theoretical part, that Lithuanian economic business interest groups choose tactics subject to the disposable resources, the nature of the organization and the political issue, and institutional arena. Most commonly used tactics by the examined interest groups are: 1) testifying at hearings; 2) helping draft regulations, rules, or guidelines; 3) presenting research results or technical information; 4) talking with people from the press and the media; 5) contacting government officials directly and indirectly to present the point of view. The obstacles for using broader amount of influence tactics the interest groups face are 1) the political culture; 2) narrow and self-interested aims; 3) low perception and 4) undeveloped lobbying. There are many external causes aggravating the efforts of interest groups like 1) state policy priorities; 2) limited range of techniques; 3) insufficient exploitation of given possibilities; 4) defective tax system; 5) the lack of cooperation between organizations and 6) the free rider problem