Are lobbyists really as bad as their reputation?
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**What are lobbyists?
Lobbyists get paid to try to convince lawmakers to adopt or oppose policies on behalf of their clients. There are thousands of different groups that have lobbyists either working directly for them or hiring lobbyists from lobbying firms. And these groups can range from big corporations and trade associations to public interest nonprofits.
**Are lobbyists bad?
Lobbying itself is generally thought of as a fundamental right guaranteed by the first amendment in the constitution as the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. At its core, lobbying is just a way for citizens to engage with lawmakers on issues that are important to them. Most of the critiques around lobbying have to do with how money is involved. It’s really expensive to run a political campaign, and one way that lobbyists can get facetime to talk to politicians is to throw big fundraisers for them, and lobbyists themselves can actually donate to political campaigns. And most of the biggest spenders on lobbying represent business interests. This raises equity issues about what types of organizations can afford to hire lobbyists and ultimately whose voices influence policy.
**How does lobbying work?
A lot of lobbying is building relationships with politicians and finding out who has the interest and power to help with your cause. And money isn’t the only currency in lobbying, politicians also pay attention to how many people are calling their offices and care about an issue, how many people are sending emails or writing notes about an issue. Getting facetime with politicians and their trusted advisors is extremely important when it comes to lobbying,
*Do lobbyists for non-corporate causes ever win?
Yes, even though corporate interests outspend public interest groups- lobbying can still work to bring about change that isn’t necessarily pro-business. For example, The Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit successfully lobbied for congress to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is a pot of money reserved for conservation efforts to offset environmental damages caused by the oil and gas industry.
SELECTED SOURCES
Lobbying (The National Museum of American History)
americanhistory.si.edu/democr...
How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy (The Atlantic)
www.theatlantic.com/business/...
Gold-Level Clubs for Lobbyists (Politico)
www.politico.com/news/2022/08...
Top Spenders on Lobbying 2021 (Open Secrets)
www.opensecrets.org/federal-l...
Midterm Election Spending (Open Secrets)
www.opensecrets.org/news/2022...
Big Pharma Went All In to Kill Drug Price Negotiations (Kaiser Health News)
khn.org/news/article/big-phar...
Testing Theories of American Politics
scholar.princeton.edu/sites/d...
Fighting Special Interest Lobbyists Power Over Public Policy (Center for American Progress)
www.americanprogress.org/arti...
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:56 What are lobbyists?
1:47 Lobbyists and money
2:32 Lobbyists for businesses
4:50 Environmental lobbying
7:50 Conclusion
#lobbying #lobbyists explained