Literary Sources in Lobbyism - Book Report/Review Example

Introduction The book with the "Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions and Social Movements" written by Jack L. Walker provides readers a clear description of the role and importance of lobbyists as well as their effects in the political arena. It also gives information about the strengths and weaknesses of lobbyists and the process of being a certified lobbyist. Another good source of information regarding lobbyists is the book written by Jeffrey M. Berry known as "The New Liberalism: The Rising Power of Citizen Groups". This contains data on how influential lobbyists are in the Congress and how their presence and influence affects the passage of bills and laws to the Congress. The two books are well-written and organized. The sections of each boom are properly marked with headings. The book by Walker includes active concept check sections and active example sections to check for readers' understanding of the topics. Aside from this, it includes tables and graphs gives clear descriptions of some concepts that are better presented in a different manner other than in paragraph form of writing. The tables include: Types of Lobbyists, Television News Coverage of Interest Groups, Activities of Professional Lobbyists, The Big Money PACs, Iron Triangles and The Interest Group Model. Body Washington is a labyrinth of interest representatives - lawyers and law firms; independent consultants; public and governmental relations firms; business, professional, and trade associations; and advocates of special causes. It is estimated that more than 14,000 people in Washington fit the definition of lobbyist, a person working to influence government policies and actions. These figures suggest at least twenty-five lobbyists for every member of Congress. Lobbyists in Washington D.C. represent a broad array of concerns. They share a common goal - to influence the making and enforcing of laws - and common tactics to achieve this goal. Many lobbyists are the employees of interest-group organizations who devote all of their efforts to their sponsors. Some lobbying organizations rely heavily on their campaign contributions to achieve lobbying power; others rely on large memberships and still others on politically active members who concentrate their attention on a narrow range of issues. Other lobbyists are located in independent law, consulting, or public relations firms that take on client for fees. Independent lobbyists, especially law firms, are often secretive about whom they represent, especially when they represent foreign governments. Lobbyists frequently prefer to label their activities as "government relations", "public affairs", "regulatory liaison", legislative counseling", or merely "representation". In reality, many independent lawyers and lobbyists in Washington are "fixers" who offer to influence government policies for a price. Many are former government officials -former Congress members, cabinet secretaries, White House aides, and the like - who "know their way around". Their personal connections help to "open doors" to allow their paying clients to "just get a chance to talk" with top officials. REGULATION OF LOBBIES The Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of the right "to petition the government for redress of grievances" protects lobbying. But the government can and does regulate lobbying activities, primarily through disclosure laws. The Regulation of Lobbying Act requires lobbyists to register and to report how much they spend, but definitions of lobbying are unclear and enforcement is weak. Many large lobbying groups - for example, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Bankers Association, and Americans for Constitutional Action - have never registered as lobbyists. These organizations claim that because lobbying is not their principal activity, they need not register under the law. In addition, financial reports of lobbyists grossly underestimate the extent of lobbying in Congress because the law requires reports only of money spent for direct lobbying before Congress, not money spent for public relations. Another weakness in the law is that it applies only to attempts to influence Congress; it does not regulate lobbying activities in administrative agencies or the executive branch. Tax laws require nonprofit organizations to refrain from direct lobbying in order to retain their tax free status. Under current tax law, individual contributions to nonprofit charitable and educational organizations are tax deductible, and the income of these organizations is tax free. But these organizations risk losing these tax preferences if a "substantial part" of their activities is "attempting to influence legislation". Thus, for example, Washington think tanks such as Brooking Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation refrain from direct lobbying even though they make policy recommendations. But the line between public affairs "education" and "lobbying" is very fuzzy. THE FINE ART OF LOBBYING Any activity directed at a government decision maker with the hope of influencing decisions is a form of lobbying. (The term arose from the practice of waiting in the lobbies of legislative chambers to meet and persuade legislators). For organized interests, lobbying is continuous - in congressional committees, in congressional staff offices, at the White House, at executive agencies, at Washington cocktail parties. If a group loses a round in Congress, it continues the fight in the agency in chare of executing the policy, or it challenges the policy in the courts. The following year, it resumes the struggle in Congress: It fights to repeal the offending legislation, to weaken amendments, or to reduce the agency's budget enough to cripple enforcement efforts. Lobbying techniques are as varied as the imagination of interest-group leaders, but such activities generally fall into seven categories: public relations, access, information, grass-roots mobilization, protests and demonstrations, coalition building and campaign support. In the real world of power struggles, all these techniques may be discovered and applied at any time. Public Relations Many interest groups actually spend more of their time, energy and resources on public relations - developing and maintaining a favorable climate of opinion in the nation - than on direct lobbying of the Congress. The mass media - television, magazines, and newspapers - are saturated with expensive ads by oil companies, auto companies, chemical manufacturers, trade associations, tecahers' unions and many other groups, all seeking to create a favorable image for themselves with the general public. These ads are designed to go well beyond promoting the sale of particular products; they portray these organizations as patriotic citizens, protectors of the environment, provider of jobs, defenders of family values and supporters of the American way of life. Generally, business interests have an advantage in the area of public relations because public relations and sales and marketing activities are synonymous. But paid advertising is less credible than news stories and media commentary. Hence interest groups generate a daily flood of press releases, media events, interviews, reports, and studies for the media. Media news stories appear to favor liberal public interest groups. Access To influence decision makers, organized interests must first acquire access to them. Individuals who have personal contacts in Congress, the White House or the bureaucracy sell their services at high prices. The personal prestige of lobbyists, together with the group's perceived political influence helps open doors in different states. Socializing is often an exercise in access- rubbing elbows with powerful people. Well-heeled lobbyists regularly pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars per plate at fundraising dinners for members of Congress. Lobbyists regularly provide dinners, drinks, travel, vacations, to other members of Congress, their families and congressional staff as well as to White House and other executive officials. These favors are rarely provided on a direct quid pro quo basis in exchange for votes. Rather, they are designed to gain access-"just a chance to talk". Information Once lobbyists gain access, their knowledge and information become valuable resources to those they lobby. Members of Congress and their staffs look to lobbyists for technical expertise on the issue under debate as well as political information about the group's position on the issue. Members of the Congress must vote on hundreds of questions each year and it is impossible for them to be fully informed about the wide array of bills and issues they face. Consequently, many of them come to depend on trusted lobbyists. Lobbyists also spend considerable amount of time and effort keeping informed about bills affecting their interests. They must be thoroughly familiar with the ins and outs of the legislative process - the relevant committees and subcommittees, their schedules of meetings and hearings, their key staff member, the best moments to act, the precise language for proposed bills and amendments, the witnesses for hearings, and the political strengths and weaknesses of the legislators themselves. Lobbying does not cease after a law is passed. Rather, interest groups try to influence the implementation of the law. Interest groups know that bureaucrats exercise considerable discretion in policy implementation. Thus many interest groups spend as much time and energy trying o influence executive agencies than Congress. Conclusion The books by Walker and Berry are both informative and educational. However, their manner of presenting their ideas differ since Berry deals with the ideas in continuous paragraphs with very minimal graphs or tables that present supporting evidence from statistics or current events which are very apparent with work of Walker. Lobbying the bureaucracy involves various types of activities, including monitoring regulatory agencies for notices of new rules and regulatory changes; providing reports, testimony, and evidence in administrative hearings; submitting contract and grant applications and lobbying for their acceptance and monitoring the performance of executive agencies on behalf of group members. Groups may try to influence the creation of new agency to carry out the new law or influence the assignment of implementation to an existing friendly agency. They may try to influence the selection of personnel enforcement of the law. They may argue for strict rules and regulations or loose interpretations of the law by the implementing agencies. Lobbyists frequently appear at administrative hearings to offer information. They often undertake sponsor test cases of administrative regulations on behalf of affected members. In short, Lobbying extends throughout the government. REFERENCES: Berry, Jeffrey. The New Liberalism: The Rising Power of Citizen Groups. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institutions Press, 1999. Geiger, Andreas. Lobbyists - the Devil's Advocates, European Competition Law Review, Volume 24, issue 11/2003, p. 559 Walker, Jack. Mobilizing Interest Groups in America: Patrons, Professions and Social Movement. University of Michigan Press, 1991. "What is Lobbying." All American Lobbyists. 2 May 2008 . Read More