The Policy Dystopia Model: An Interpretive Analysis of Tobacco Industry Political Activity

Abstract

Background

Tobacco industry interference has been identified as the greatest obstacle to the implementation of evidence-based measures to reduce tobacco use. Understanding and addressing industry interference in public health policy-making is therefore crucial. Existing conceptualisations of corporate political activity (CPA) are embedded in a business perspective and do not attend to CPA’s social and public health costs; most have not drawn on the unique resource represented by internal tobacco industry documents. Building on this literature, including systematic reviews, we develop a critically informed conceptual model of tobacco industry political activity.

Methods and Findings

We thematically analysed published papers included in two systematic reviews examining tobacco industry influence on taxation and marketing of tobacco; we included 45 of 46 papers in the former category and 20 of 48 papers in the latter ( n = 65). We used a grounded theory approach to build taxonomies of “discursive” (argument-based) and “instrumental” (action-based) industry strategies and from these devised the Policy Dystopia Model, which shows that the industry, working through different constituencies, constructs a metanarrative to argue that proposed policies will lead to a dysfunctional future of policy failure and widely dispersed adverse social and economic consequences. Simultaneously, it uses diverse, interlocking insider and outsider instrumental strategies to disseminate this narrative and enhance its persuasiveness in order to secure its preferred policy outcomes. Limitations are that many papers were historical (some dating back to the 1970s) and focused on high-income regions.

Conclusions

The model provides an evidence-based, accessible way of understanding diverse corporate political strategies. It should enable public health actors and officials to preempt these strategies and develop realistic assessments of the industry’s claims.

Abstract

In this thematic analysis, Selda Ulucanlar and colleagues develop taxonomies and an overall model to describe the political strategies used by the tobacco industry to influence policy around tobacco taxation and marketing.

Author Summary

Why Was This Study Done?

• Interference by the tobacco industry in government policy-making is known to be an important reason for governments’ failure to adopt proven measures to reduce tobacco consumption.

• Our study aimed to systematically review tobacco industry political activity from a critical societal perspective using in-depth empirical evidence.

• We set out to build a widely applicable model that governments in different countries could use to identify and preempt industry interference in policy.

What Did the Researchers Do and Find?

• We analysed 65 papers included in previous systematic reviews that examined tobacco industry political activity in two policy areas: taxation and marketing of tobacco products.

• Using constructivist grounded theory, we identified industry arguments and techniques and then grouped these under the more general heading of strategies, finally developing a taxonomy and model of tobacco industry political activity.

• According to our Policy Dystopia Model, the industry produces an alarmist narrative that proposed policies will fail and lead to a great number of undesirable social and economic consequences (outlined in our taxonomy of discursive strategies).

• The industry also uses different methods (outlined in our taxonomy of instrumental strategies) to disseminate this narrative and persuade decision-makers in order to block policies.

What Do These Findings Mean?

• Public health actors and policy-makers can use our model and taxonomies to better promote tobacco-related policies and to render ineffective tobacco industry opposition and political activity.

• In particular, they need to pay attention to alliance formation, information provision, interdisciplinary working, and transparency in policy-making.