Practice Areas

Public Affairs & Government Relations

A public affairs firm helps an organization shape the policy, regulatory and political decisions that affect it. Government relations is the part of that work done directly with the officials who decide. Companies bring one in when a rule, a license or a change of government puts something material at stake. Lincoln Strategy Group advises on both and then executes, for more than a thousand organizations in 73 countries.

What public affairs is

Public affairs is the work of shaping the policy, regulatory, and political environment around an organization, and engaging the people and institutions that decide an outcome. It is broader than any single contact with government. It reaches regulators, legislators, the press, industry, and the constituencies that carry weight on a question, and aligns them around a result. The aim is not to win the argument in the room, but to shape how the question is understood long before the decision is taken.

What does a public affairs firm do?

A public affairs firm does five things, usually in this order: it watches, maps, makes the case, builds support, and stays to the end. It watches the legislatures, agencies and public consultations that matter to a client, so a change is seen while it can still be shaped. It maps who decides and who influences them, formally and informally. It turns the client's position into something an official can use: evidence, a workable alternative, a clear account of who is affected and how. It builds support around that position with industry, associations, experts and affected communities. And it stays through the vote, the final text or the license decision, adjusting as the question moves. Government relations runs through all five as the direct channel to the people who govern.

Government relations and regulatory strategy

Government relations is the direct, ongoing engagement with government and regulators: the relationships, the briefings, and the case made to the officials who decide. It sits inside public affairs as the channel to the decision-maker. Lobbying is one tactic within it, not the whole of it. Around that engagement we build the regulatory strategy: reading where a rule or a bill is heading, identifying who moves it, and positioning the organization early, while the outcome is still open.

Coalitions and stakeholder engagement

Few decisions turn on a single voice. They turn on who lines up behind a position, and how credibly. We map the stakeholders around a question, engage them on the merits, and build the coalitions that give a position weight: industry, associations, affected constituencies, and the experts whose judgment is trusted. Stakeholder engagement is the patient work of understanding what each party needs and finding the ground they can share.

When does a company need a government relations firm?

A company needs outside help when a government decision could change its costs, its market or its license to operate, and its own team cannot cover the ground in time. The usual signs are a bill or rule in draft that would change how the business works; entry into a new country, where the approvals and the officials are unfamiliar; an investment that needs a permit, a screening or a public partner; a change of government after an election; or a crisis that has drawn officials in. An in-house team knows the business best. An outside firm adds what that team rarely has: relationships across more governments, a view of how similar questions were settled elsewhere, and the people to run a coalition or a field program at scale. Most large companies use both.

How should a company choose a public affairs firm?

Choose on four tests: the record, the reach, the team, and the rules. Ask for outcomes, not activity: which decisions changed because of the firm's work, and in which sectors. Check that it works in the jurisdictions you need, with people who know each place. Meet the people who will do the work, not only those who pitch it. And ask how the firm complies with lobbying law. In the United States, a firm that lobbies federal officials registers each client separately under the Lobbying Disclosure Act and reports on each one every quarter. In the European Union, only organizations in the Transparency Register can meet Commissioners, Members and officials in the institutions' buildings. In the United Kingdom, no one may carry on the business of consultant lobbying without being on the statutory register. A firm that is vague on these points puts its clients at risk.

Across borders

Policy, regulation, and approvals look different in every jurisdiction, and a position that holds in one capital can fail in the next. We bring one disciplined method to that variety, with local fluency in each market, engaging governments and regulators in 73 countries, on five continents. The multinational team is the instrument: eighteen nationalities, twenty-one languages, working twenty-four hours a day, so the engagement is native to the place, not imported into it.

From advice to outcome

Counsel is where most of this work stops: the memo, the strategy, the recommendation. Lincoln also executes. We build the coalition, organize the constituencies, and run the campaign that carries a position from advice to outcome. Often the decisive part is the quiet groundwork, the engagement and the alignment that settle a question before it is ever put to a vote. That pairing of strategy and execution is proven across more than a thousand organizations and nineteen industries.

Common questions

What is public affairs?
Public affairs is the practice of shaping the policy, regulatory, and political environment around an organization, and engaging the stakeholders who decide an outcome: regulators, legislators, industry, and the constituencies that carry weight on a question.
What is the difference between public affairs and lobbying?
Lobbying is one tactic: direct contact with officials to advocate a position. Public affairs is far broader. It shapes the whole environment around a decision through regulatory strategy, coalitions, stakeholder engagement, and communications. Lobbying is one channel within it.
What is government relations?
Government relations is the direct, ongoing engagement with government and regulators: the relationships, briefings, and case made to the officials who decide. It is the channel to the decision-maker within the wider work of public affairs.
Do public affairs firms have to register as lobbyists?
Often, yes. In the United States, a firm that lobbies federal officials registers each client under the Lobbying Disclosure Act and reports quarterly. Registration in the EU Transparency Register is effectively required to meet officials in the EU institutions, and the UK keeps a statutory register of consultant lobbyists. Many states and countries add rules of their own, so registration is checked market by market.
Should a company hire a firm or build an in-house team?
Usually both. An in-house team knows the business and owns the relationships over time. An outside firm adds reach across governments, experience of how similar questions were settled elsewhere, and the capacity to run coalitions or field programs at scale. Companies tend to bring a firm in when the stakes rise or the work crosses borders.
What is cross-border or international government relations?
It is the practice of engaging governments and regulators across more than one jurisdiction, where policy and approvals differ by country. Lincoln applies one disciplined method with local fluency in each market, in 73 countries.
How is Lincoln's public affairs work different from other firms?
Most firms stop at counsel. Lincoln advises and then executes: building the coalition, organizing the constituencies, and running the campaign that carries a position from strategy to outcome.

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