I made a mistake when I talked about lobbying; What I meant was to legalize corruption as an option for lobbyists. People`s movements and corporations could send lobbyists, but lobbyists should not be able to waste money on legislators. Another issue that is raised is the idea that corporations bribe politicians with money. This is already illegal. Counterparties are also illegal. As such, they must be able to seek advice from experts in these areas, and this is essentially a form of lobbying. When a climate scientist says, “Mr. politician, you should vote yes to the new climate protection law, because if you don`t, we`ll all be extinct in 50 years,” that`s lobbying. When an oncologist says, “Mr. politician, you should vote for this bill to ban this food additive because all the data shows that it causes cancer,” that is lobbying. When an epidemiologist says, “Mr. politician, you should vote for the motion that everyone wear a mask for a certain period of time, because it is scientifically proven that it slows and reduces the spread of this virus.” This is lobbying.
If you are a real person who comes in the flesh, your representatives can be very accommodating when it comes to hearing your concerns. On couple lobbying trips I attended, I met people on both sides of the aisle and even got into an argument with a couple. I think they are happy when young people are actively interested in these kinds of things instead of sitting at home complaining. It is legal because it is explicitly prohibited by the 1. The constitutional amendment is protected. The right to apply to your government for a remedy for grievances. That is what lobbying is all about. The form of lobbying we use is toxic to a democracy. Having a group that represents your concerns directly to your representatives is not bad. But in reality, most Americans don`t have a lobbyist group working for their interests. However, companies do. Anyone with large sums of money does.
So they let lobbyists convey their wishes and whims to different representatives and. The idea that these meetings are not transactional is naïve at best. What reason would a politician have to listen to Exxon Mobile lobbyists through his own direct voters? Well, because Exxon`s mobile lobbyist may promise indirectly or directly that if that representative votes a certain way, Exxon would like to donate to his re-election campaign. And if that representative leaves office, this lobbying firm would like to offer him a nice and comfortable job. Lobbying is not corruption and has nothing to do with campaign contributions. Lobbying is simply talking to politicians about issues that are important to you. If you go to the city council meeting and complain about potholes on your street that have not yet been fixed, that is lobbying. When you call or write to your senator, it is lobbying.
There are many excellent answers in this thread, and I have nothing to add to the content of the answers. I want to note one thing, and that is that if you Google this topic, you might come across an article by Zephyr Teachout, a law professor currently running for NY AG. In this article, she claims that lobbying was once banned in several states. It sounds like you are confusing lobbying with corruption. Hm, what about “give us money to save our business, or we will all lay off, close and your government will be blamed for losing so many jobs”. That`s pretty much exactly what GM and Chrysler did. Is it a form of lobbying? The people who determine what is legal are those who profit from lobbyists and often become lobbyists after they take office. This means that it is in their interest not to go too far with restrictions. It is important to note that lobbying is not the problem, lobbying is crucial for organizations and individuals to be able to voice their concerns and communicate directly with their representatives. But the problem is that big business controls much of the lobbying process that crowds out public interest groups.
How big is the problem? The number of corporate lobbies exceeds that of public interest lobbies (environment, citizens, trade unions) in a ratio of 16:1. In addition, business lobbies account for more than 75% of all lobbying spending. I mean, corruption is illegal. But lobbying and giving millions to politicians in the form of donations is somehow legal? In theory, lobbying allows small interest groups to come together to defend their interests. “Here`s $100 if you vote yes on SB101” – This is corruption. It is illegal. Lobbyists do not do it because they are not paid by their clients when they go to jail. I have a related question – is there a law that prohibits politicians from promising a job after their political life? I see that many politicians leave office after supposedly doing “favors” for business interests, only to get nice comfortable office jobs from those same companies.
Is a promise to pay on the street legally a bribe? The ability of citizens to petition their government is not only legal, but one of the cornerstones of an open democratic society. The truth is that this is a common misconception. Lobbying is not the problem. Money in politics is a problem. Lobbying works, using the system – whatever the existing system – to get what an organization wants. There is literally no way to stop it. Money in politics, on the other hand, can be limited. The two are merged by people who think lobbying is bad. The problem is if you allow something that is blatant corruption to be legal with donations, meetings, dinners, tickets to the Superbowl, a paid trip to a resort to watch a PowerPoint presentation, etc. What about Citizens United`s recent decision regarding Super PACs and other fundraising? How do they fit into lobbying? That is not what lobbying is. It is a crime. This doesn`t really happen either (although there are certainly some cases).
Companies don`t bribe politicians to vote for their interests. It is more effective to support candidates who already honestly agree with their views. Your edition is actually one of the two main reasons why it`s not corruption. In principle, campaign contributions do not benefit the recipient`s personal benefit. They go to the countryside and may only be used for purposes prescribed by law. Certainly, it is much more effective when rich or powerful people do it because they can use a lot of money or votes for those who are favored by politicians. But there is no mechanical and legal difference between you and a CEO who has dinner with a congressman and talks about politics. You`re both trying to convince them to do something, the CEO just has a lot more influence than you. Lobbying in its basic form is the communication of your position to your representative. Every time someone calls their representative and tells them that they like what they have done, or that they should vote a certain way, that is lobbying.