Winning Hearts, Losing Minds:Politicisation and the Contestation of Expertise in the Context of TTIP Negotiations

Expertise in policymaking can have multiple functions: gaining access to policymakers, increasing the legitimacy of an actor or policy, or informing the broader public about an issue. Lobbying groups can provide policymakers with expertise in exchange for access, or they can politicise an issue by making their message appeal to their members and the public. This chapter examines the latter of these choices—namely, how politicising an issue affects how ngos and other actors contest expertise in the policy process. We examine the case of ttip, where ngos’ use of outside strategies to create politicisation and gain public support lost them legitimacy in the eyes of commission and business groups. However, certain ngos were also granted more access to the policymaking process. This indicates that while politicisation can make contestation more polarised, it may also lead to effects whereby more moderate groups are given access and a platform for their claims. Politicisation and expertise-based lobbying may therefore be seen as complements rather than a trade-off