Lobbying and Politics

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Dating back many decades, it appears that lobbying and politics have always gone hand and hand on any political stage. Lobbying has always had a strong presence in the legislation system. Lobbying is the process of offering campaign contributions, bribes, or information to policymakers for the purpose of achieving favorable policy outcomes. Conventional wisdom suggests that lobbying is the preferred mean for exerting political influence in rich countries and corruption in poor countries. The legislation is meant to benefit society and ensure that citizens are having their voices heard, instead of hindering them in favour of the multi-national corporations. Lobbying has a negative influence on legislations in both developed and developing countries as it; only benefits major corporations, proves to be harmful to innocent civilians, and corrupts developing governments. Although there are corporations that utilize lobbying for good, due to the actions of the major corporations that use lobbying, it is evident that it corrupts the political process.
Lobbying doesn’t benefit anyone but the big corporations that participate in it. All businesses have the goal to maximize their profits. If there are restrictions or regulations that hinder the opportunity to maximize their profits, then they will try to find a loophole or another way out of their situation. This potentially turns to bribes or other methods to achieve their goal. Distinctly, many of the top corporations in the US have utilized millions in lobbying to save billions in taxes. According to a 2010 study by the Daylight Foundation, which compared tax data to the relationship of increases in lobbying to the decreases in real taxes paid for corporations (Sager, 2012). Between 2...

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...f Investigative Journalists. Retrieved from http://www.icij.org/project/smoke-screen-big-tobaccos-global-lobbying/tobacco-lobby-goes-global

Shah, A. (2006, May 28). Corporations and Worker’s Rights — Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/57/corporations-and-workers-rights

World Health Organization (2008). Tobacco industry interference with tobacco control. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/tobacco/resources/publications/Tobacco%20Industry%20Interference-FINAL.pdf

Šefčovič, M. (n.d.). Perceptions of Lobbying. In A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE LOBBYING IN EUROPE The View of Policy-Makers (2013 ed., p. 10).

Woodstock Theological Center (2002). "The Ethics of Lobbying: Organized Interests, Political Power, and the Common Good". Georgetown University Press. ISBN 0-8784-0905-X. Retrieved 2012-01-12. "(see page 1 of "The Ethics of Lobbying" chapter)"

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