Background
Many controversial topics have surfaced recently, but one that tends to fly under the radar is lobbying. Lobbying is defined as a group of persons who work or conduct a campaign to influence members of a legislature to vote according to a group’s special interests (“Lobby”). Although average citizens are not fully aware of the issue, it is quite contentious in politics. For those who are against it, they believe that restrictions should be placed on lobbying because it distorts democracy. Lobbyists use money and cost-effective strategies to sway the opinions of lawmakers. Others see lobbyists as effective, political tour guides who help pass legislation. An analysis of the lobbying process reveals the outcomes are often times ethical, but chiefly controversial. This leaves us with a heated debate; should Congress tighten their restrictions on lobbying?
Lobbying didn’t become popular until the twentieth century. James Madison discussed the earliest form of this practice in the Federalist Papers. This was a part of the Constitution that was crafted in order to cater to special interests. In the Federalist No. 10, Madison refers to these specialized groups with similar interests as factions. Factions soon became the stepping-stone for lobbyists (American Government A21). Today, lobbying is seen as a vital, constitutionally protected job of petitioning government and educating lawmakers (SIRS Issue Researchers). With this occupation growing within the political industry, the economic side of lobbying is scaring both lawmakers and political aficionados alike. Some say it is simply buying influence and access, while others argue it is bribery.
Lobbyists have clients, or people who inquire for assistance from lobbying fir...
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Lobbying has been a somewhat recent phenomenon that has taken American politics by storm. Lobbying affects all aspects of government, from small local government all the way up to the highest level of federal government. Although some forms of lobbying have been prevalent since the creation of the United States, federal lobbying has increased exponentially in the past 30 years. This recent vast increase in lobbying has shaped present day American politics, protecting the interests of corporations and other wealthy interest groups at the expense of American tax payers who do not have the resources available to make their voices heard in government or influence legislation.
In 1995, a mandatory lobby register has been created in the United States. It was introduced through the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) under Bill Clinton. “The Lobbying Disclosure Act received unanimous approval in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 19, 1995.” (Holman, 2003) The American legislation is very broad in many ways and can thus contribute to transparency in lobbying. Nevertheless, case studies demonstrate that there are ways to circumvent the rules and are used increasingly.
Many citizens take to the polls in election time to vote for their candidate of choice. For many this is the opportunity to vote someone into office who has heard their voices and will meet their demands. Nowadays lobbyists play an important role in such as educating our elected officials. Lobbyists have been influential when it comes to making a certain bill into a law.
The interest groups are said use a lot of funds annually especially for food and entertainment so that they can spend significant time convincing these legislature on the policy making systems (Ramsey: 1). Over a period of 2 years, Lobbyists have reported usage of $4.8 million (Ramsey: 1) of food and beverages alone hence this shows that they actually take part in influencing the decision. The names of policy makers are mostly not disclosed although they should only be included in the Lobbyists reports when the expenses by the legislature exceeded $114, the names of those legislatures should be reported (Ramsey: 1). Therefore, the Lobbyists can ensure that they do not expose the beneficially of these special treatment through splitting their expenditures among several lobbyist so as to control anyone spending over $114 on a single law maker official (Ramsey: 1). Limitation of this usage can be done through limiting the number of Lobbyists that an Interest group can employ on a simultaneously. This will drastically reduce the expenditure since some groups hire more than 1 lobbyist (Ramsey: 1).
Lobbying plays an important role in our democratic political practice. Government decisions affect many things such as people and organizations, and information must be given in order to produce educated decisions. In this writing assignment, I will be explaining the pros and cons of lobbying.
Like political parties, pressure groups can be considered another system that connects the citizen more directly to government. However, at the same instant there are marked differences in both composition and function that define interest groups as different entities from larger political parties. According to V.O. Key Jr. in a composition appropriately entitled Pressure Groups; pressure groups “Ordinarily… concern themselves with only a narrow range of policies;” and unlike the goals of political parties, their intentions are to “influence the content of public policy rather than the results of elections.” Nevertheless, it is a realized fact that special interest groups with a mass membership are considered to be congregations with enough power to affect election results and “pressure party leaders, legislators, and others in official position to act in accord with their wishes…”
Political corruption has long been a part of many governments all around the world. Even in the United States, where the equality and ju stice are upheld as important national values, corrupt politicians may still be scheming up new ways to abuse the law for their own benefit. Despite the various provisions and laws set up to deter such underhanded behavior, unscrupulous politicians are still finding loopholes in the system. One of these exploits is lobbying. Lobbying, the act of attempting to influence the decisions of government officials, should be banned to prevent bribery and corruption by large corporations and wealthy individuals.
According to Patterson (2013), inside lobbying is the strategy to develop and maintain close contacts with policymakers, and outside lobbying brings constituency pressure to bear on policymakers. Inside lobbying plays directly to politicians in order to personally influence them. Inside lobbying happens within the Capitol and can be made up of former elected officials. Congressional committees, the senate, and interest groups work together to expand on their political influence. They influence and discuss with lawmakers and other officials to get laws they want passed. Inside lobbying use the courts, congress, and even the executive branch to find ways to highly influence lawmakers with their views and what policy changes they want done. On
An interest group is a group of people that have organized for a purpose to promote a cause and influence policy by informing those that make the policy decisions. Indeed, these groups do not have the ability to make policies they do have the artful competence to influence policy makers (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). Some methods used to persuade these politicians are to initiate research that indicates support for the interest groups’ position. For example, an area of concern was a television ad concerning health reform in 1993, in which information was provided illustrating that certain suggestions should be rejected or reconsidered prior to becoming a policy (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013). Many lobbyists are known to use actors to gain access to the politicians, such as Michael J Fox, when he lobbied for Parkinson’s’ disease. As the politicians’ time is in short supply, having short and specific information is vital to get the point across if the lobbyist has the ability to have access to the politician.
Legislator’s have three main objectives: reelection, good public policy and influence within Congress. Some of the ways a lobbyist convey their goals is by using direct or indirect techniques in order to maintain it’s goals and also assist the objectives of the legislator. Direct techniques are the efforts used in a “face to face” with the legislator, meaning direct contact with public officials and telling them about the groups goals hoping to influence that official into agreeing with their topic and supporting it when the time comes. These meetings can be in public or a private setting, during dinner, a social gathering, or even in the forms of testifying for or against proposed legislation. Some lobbyists actually have more information on specific details on proposed legislation and how other legislators may vote. Lobbyists may use ratings: where the legislators voting records are scrutinized to see which way they have voted on similar events in the past, or may be released to the public to embarrass the member for possible changes in their policies (during an election year, promising to vote one way in order to obtain that constituents vote, then changing their mind on the issue after the election). As stated earlier, the group may form an alliance with another group who have the same goal in mind, so as not to hurt the others efforts. The larger affect that an interest group may play is when a candidate is endorsed by that group during the campaign where possibly millions of votes may be attained. Indirect methods influence public opinion, lobbyists and lobbyist groups may use social media campaigns, television publicity, newspaper and magazine advertisements and mass mailings to improve public image of the lobbied view. Climate
The most common methods used to influence the government or affect policy outcomes are lobbying, bribery and political campa...
Restrictions are needed to maintain democratic process, which will make sure the government is in compliance with the law. There should be public disclosure of whom lobbyists represent. “State laws requires disclosure, but with loopholes that almost always protect officeholders and their employees from accountability and transparency.” Interest groups use lobbyists who spend a lot of money on legislators, senators,
Therefore, Interest groups are arguably an integral part of American politics because they help set agendas and persuade politicians to react the way they want. An interesting fact about interest groups is that they articulate or represent ideas of what the people ‘want’ the government to do, even if interest groups are made from secular groups of individuals that represent specific causes. Furthermore, there are an enormous number of interest groups in the United States, and millions of Americans are members of one or more, at least to the extent of paying dues or attending an occasional meeting. This means interest groups can go to governments and claim that these people represent the views they stand for. When in reality, a large portion of these individuals join these factions to get special benefits or discounts. This begs the question on whether interest groups are actually an integral part of American politics because if an interest group is forcing legislators to draft legislation or encourage political parties to shape their platforms to represent the groups values while a large portion of the group does
Wilson makes a comparison between the government systems of America and Europe and his intentions were not necessarily for America to do the same as Europe, but for us to explore and research other governments and public administrations, so that we can analyze and master our own. It is questionable why other governments have been more successful with certain matters than our own here in America. Wilson expresses relevant concerns and arguments that government systems should be further studied and improved as, it is crucial and ultimately beneficial to the nation and it’s