Policy laundering is the disguising of the origins of political decisions, laws, or international treaties. The term is based on the similar money laundering.
Hiding responsibility for a policy or decision
One common method for policy laundering is the use of international treaties which are formulated in secrecy. Afterwards it is not possible to find out who advocated for which part of the treaty. Each person can claim that it was not them who demanded a certain paragraph but that they had to agree to the overall "compromise".
Examples that could be considered as "policy laundering" are WIPOYu, Peter K., The Political Economy of Data Protection, Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 83, 2008 or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Circumventing the regular approval process
Yet another manifestation of policy laundering is to implement legal policy which a subset of legislators desire but would normally not be able to obtain approval through regular means.
The American Civil Liberties Union argueACLU's Stop Policy Laundering ProjectBarry Steinhardt (ACLU) "The Problem of Policy Laundering" that policy laundering has become common political practice in areas related to terrorism and the erosion of civil liberties.
See also
International law: Diplomacy Harmonisation of law International relations Investor-state dispute settlement
Political communication: Astroturfing Covert operation Doublespeak Media influence War on terror
Policy making: Joint decision trap Lobbyism Participation (decision making) Political corruption Theories of political behaviour
References
External links Privacy International: Policy Laundering openrightsgroup: Policy Laundering