Lobbyism Pros And Cons

Each year billions of dollars are spent on getting candidates of various offices of government elected. Many candidates have had tremendous success through the efforts of much needed monetary contributions to their campaign. Contributors range from unions, religious leaders, organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), the National Rifle Association (NRA), and senior citizens groups. When these groups, known as special interest groups, donate to candidate’s campaign, they expect the candidate to respond to their issues. Because special interest groups, as well as private citizens donate more and more money to campaigns, there is some concern that there is a great need for campaign finance reform.

Interest groups can be both bad and good for democracy. The interest groups are able to lobby to congress to help out different organizations. They basically work on a “you do a favor for me and I’ll do a favor for you later” basis. This gives the lobbyist an influence over congress. They can be bad for the democracy because too much influence and power can be a bad thing. The issue they are lobbying for may not be a good cause.

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

The controversy surrounding political lobbying does not question the act of influencing public officials, but rather the ethics relating to how these public officials are influenced. It is important to distinguish the fine line between bribery and lobbying. It is illegal to bribe a public official in the United States. This would mean that an individual could not provide compensation to a public official for them to behave, or vote, in a specific manner. Lobbyists may donate money to a specific candidate’s political campaign, but they may only do so when there is no expectation that the public official will behave in a favorable way toward the lobbyist or their clients (Mackinder). Lobbyists may bring public officials, their immediate families, and staff on trips or out to dinner. While it is illegal for a lobbyist representing a corporate client from directly bringing, it is not illegal for foreign governments to sponsor for these said trips (Goldmacher). What has begun to happen is lobbyists representing corporate clients may bring public officials on these trips, if the trip is sponsored by a foreign government. The Senate Office of Public Records reported that $3.23 billion was spent on lobbying in 2013, with 12,300 registered lobbyists. Professor James Thurber, who teaches at American University, has studied congressional lobbying for over 30 years, and does not believe these figures are accurate. He believes

Lobbying (also lobby) is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in a government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals in the private sector, corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups (interest groups). Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, meaning a voter or block of voters within his or her electoral district, or not; they may engage in lobbying as a business, or not. Basically when you’re giving an opinion from someone else it’s not something that’s coming from your mouth it’s not how you feel someone is giving you what to say.

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

Lobbying is an issue that has recently found itself at the forefront of the American politics. Many feel that lobbying is essentially a legalized form of bribery and has lead to the government catering to the needs of special interests instead of the interests of America at large. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans believe that elected officials place their own interests ahead of the country's. So it seems many Americans wonder who their representatives are actually representing. Lee Drutman, a political scientist, compares the current situation of

Golden discusses many different problems of the legislative branch. One of the first things he talks about is the four defects, and the three effects of the defects. He refers to this as the 4-3. The first defect he talks about is the money flood. This is arguably one of the biggest defects of the legislature. While the three other defects only affect the House of Representatives or the Senate, the money flood affects all 535 members (Golden 2015). Most of the money raised by these members is paid by special interests groups, and all the money they receive is legal. In 2012 the money the House and Senate raised was more than $1.8 billion, and special interest groups accounted for $400 million of that (Golden 2015). This is scary because it means that politicians have to spend more of their time negotiating with small amounts of people who are able to give large sums of money, rather than most of the American public who can only afford to donate small amounts of money. This is alarming because it implicates them

What is lobbying, and how is it regulated on the federal level? A lobbyist is someone who attempts to influence decisions made by bureaucrats in the government. Politicians and members of governing agencies are the main target of lobbyist. There are two common types of lobbying. Direct lobbying involves a lobbyist expressing their views to someone directly involved with legislation; whereas, grassroots lobbying conveys a view concerning a detailed lawmaking proposal to the community and encourages citizens to communicate this view to their legislators. Lobbying is a heavily regulated profession in the United States. The regulations obligate lobbyists to register with the House of Representatives and the Senate, report names and addresses

Billions of dollars are spent by thousands of lobbyists that work within Congress each year to see if they can alter or eliminate federal policies that they feel need are no longer needed or that need to be modified. Does the influence of money make it possible for the lobbyist to be more effective in changing the federal policies? This is a question that has been asked many times and with different points of views and opinions. It is sometimes said the person with the most money has the most influence but I don’t believe that that is always true.

First, Lazarus argued that most members of Congress received small donations from the same organizations for which they pursed earmarks. While this is not illegal, it certainly is not ethical. In the most glaring cases, at least five United States Representatives received over $100,000 due to earmarks. Lazarus points out that these numbers do not include donations made to members by lobbying firms on behalf of the companies seeking earmarks, as well as, money donated by individuals associated with those companies. Taking all of these factors into account, Lazarus concluded that on average members received $30,000 in campaign donations per earmark. Finally, supporters of the ban on earmarks argue that only the most skilled or powerful politicians will secure beneficial earmarks for their constituents. Therefore, the areas that need federal aid the most will not be fairly served by earmarks, unless their representative is particularly skilled or

Something is out of balance in Washington. Corporations now spend about $2.6 billion a year on reported lobbying. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 consistently represent business. I think it is terrible that we allow any money or benefits to change hands at all. If we had public funding of elections, and gave everyone the same amount of money to spend on television and advertising, it would make the election much more about ideas than who spends the most

Wayne, Lasser, Miller and others tend to agree that lobbyists and PACs have a great amount of influence over congress members because they may have direct connections and give campaign contributions. Recently, the airlines industry convinced congress to pass a $15 billion aid package it needs in order to survive. “The airlines had plenty of resources to draw on: 27 in-houses lobbyists, augmented by lobbyists from 42 Washington firms, including former White House aides and transportation secretaries, as well as the airlines own chief executives and corporate board members, whom all are well known in the halls of congress”(Wayne, NYT, 10/01/01. Lasser, American Politics, 1999. Miller, The American Prospect, 10/23/00. Geiger, Washington Post, 11/4-10/91.)

It is not uncommon to have a candidate’s campaign to be funded by people who are not constituents, but are organizations or lobbying groups. While it is fine that a particular cause or organization support one candidate over the other due to their beliefs or even donate to their campaign in order to get the person elected it is however, not okay to let an organization or cause to dictate what side you will have on a issue or even how you will vote on a measure or law. This issue is not exclusive to presidential candidates or governors as there are senators and representative who receive funds from special interest groups. Nor is this issue only relevant to big districts such as Los Angeles, San Diego, or San Francisco. Alejandro Lanzo (2015) of the Wall Street Journal has stated that, “Political spending by outside groups on statewide and local elections totaled more than $80.6 million in

As several authors this week contend, lobbying tends to carry a negative connotation in everyday language. The key issues that the authors seek to address this week, are when lobbying occurs, the nature of lobbying, and how it works. Overall, there is some agreement on the fact that lobbying is prevalent, the disagreements arise over what purpose lobbying serves, and what the strategies underlying lobbying are.