Lobby Away

In the last few weeks our Political Advocacy class has been learning about and discussing a very important aspect of our political culture – special interests, otherwise known as lobbyists to the greater public. Lobbying often receives negative attention or is accused of being biased against the public yet lobbying is a staple aspect of our political world and is one of the many ways representatives are able to understand the public and serve their constituencies. We were able to meet with a speaker who works in the lobbying world and has extensive knowledge on this subject and he happily shared his opinion with our class. His company is a full-service government affairs firm that monitors the actions of states that may impact the various organizations his firm supports. Here I will analyze his overall opinion (and how it reflects the work he does) and compare it to the ideas put forth by academics regarding what special interests are and what they do.

“How many of you believe that lobbying is bad?”  - Majority of class raised their hands.

“Okay, I’ll tell you why you’re wrong. Think of anything, whatever you want and understand that everything you use or love or want has been lobbied for.”

The speaker put forth many examples, one being makeup. His company represents a large corporation who oversees many big-name makeup companies and he explained how they lobby for makeup. For this argument, he explained a scenario of a proposal to ban a chemical that certain makeups containing SPF have – his group, and other makeup lobbying groups, would argue against the state that without that chemical the SPF is useless and that it is necessary to continue production of such products and provide a safe product to consumers. This is simply one example to support his opinion. His company represents many other large corporations who seek support in approaching the government to help their cause or find support for their vision.

This idea that groups, such as a large makeup corporation, retain lobbyists to voice their wants and needs to the government is rooted deep into the history of lobbying groups. Wright’s discussion on the “Evolution of Interest Groups” puts lobbying in the context of its original ideas. The United States is a representative republic based government and while some, such as James Madison, feared that factions and interest groups would turn the country against each other and lead to a ‘tyranny of the majority’, the union was built to represent the concerns and needs of the constituents within its borders. Men fought for independence on the idea of “no taxation without representation,” in which “taxation” could be replaced with several other priority concerns Americans possessed then and now. The government is here to serve the people and therefore should respect the people.

It is this idea of the government’s role as protector of the citizens and provider of safety that led to the formation of special interest and lobbying groups. The right to free speech and the right to petition the government allowed groups who felt slighted by big law-making decisions or other groups to come together and fight for their rights and opinions. Wright uses the example of the American Postal Workers Union which was a group of postal workers who felt slighted by the rules that were in place and decided to voice their concern – this led to other groups to form which felt similar or wanted to compete against another group’s intentions. Wright described this production of interest groups as a “wavelike formation” with groups forming when they are disturbed by economic, social, political or technological change, otherwise known as the disturbance theory.

Today lobbying groups are not seen as these tough groups who fight for the rights of a particular sector of people or jobs, but as groups who are biased and use their positionship to affect advocacy and issues while leaving the ‘little guys’ out of the discourse. This idea seems to apply mostly to large corporations or large interest groups who have wide reaching appeal across the nation, such as the National Rifle Association or the American Civil Liberties Union. However, Wright’s argument and description of the “free rider” program is a good place to base a counter-argument to those who hold the previously stated opinions of lobbying groups. Lobbying groups were once started and maintained by people who wanted a say in the government and people actually participated and helped their special interest group make a difference. Today a lot of lobbying groups deal with free riders who benefit from the work of the lobbying groups without putting in any physical effort, monetary support, or membership contribution.

The people complain of lobbyists fighting for companies to slight individuals when they are in fact benefitting from these fights, such as is with the makeup lobbying group our speaker discussed with the class earlier. Those who use makeup or any of those SPF related products have benefitted from the work of that group and its supporters without putting in any effort besides to criticize special interests. Obviously, it is not always the case that a lobbying cause will benefit the ‘little people’; they may in fact sometimes be harmful to individuals or counteractive to another group’s efforts. However, it is important to note as John M. de Figueiredo and Brian Kelleher Richter have put forth in their analysis, “Advancing Empirical Research on Lobbying,” not much is known on lobbying groups or their total impact and influence on the government; therefore, it is hard to issue accusations against lobbying groups or criticize their actions as if they are the sole arbiters of policy-making decisions.

By taking a step back and looking at lobbying groups as a whole instead of their specific flaws it is clear the point our speaker was trying to make. While one may not agree with what one specific group is lobbying for, it is highly likely that one would be able to find a counter-group that is supportive of one’s own values and ideology. For example, I might not agree with a group that lobbies against candy because of its sugar content, but it is highly likely that I will be able to find a different lobbying group that is fighting for the candy-makers who know that sugar is one of the best parts of candy (this is all speculative of course and completely my own opinion). Despite a lack of research or thorough understanding of what lobbying groups do or how they do it, Americans are often found fighting against the interests who are fighting for them. I believe our anger and dislike towards lobbying groups should be directed elsewhere.

It is in this context of individuals misunderstanding the concept of lobbying and what it does to help individuals (a majority of the time) that I agree with our speaker’s comment. Everything we use or love or want has been lobbied for. That is a strong statement and a true statement. The Marvel mega-hit movies I love to watch have been lobbied for regarding property rights and copyright laws, and the Netflix that I love to binge every weekend has been lobbied for by activists who support streaming. As someone who is interning at a very similar firm to that of our speaker, I have seen firsthand how lobbying groups work to fight for special interests. One group that Venn founded and manages is ESCA, the Employee-Owned S-Corporations of America, a lobbying group that fights for small business owners. We hold conferences twice a year to bring in more members and petition Congressional staff to support bills that we have put forth in the House and the Senate. It is a full-fledged operation that will benefit not only our 200 company members, but the thousands of other small businesses out there, including my family’s own DJ business.

As a history and political science major I know why Americans are so critical of our government and any entity that seems to be supporting it or consorting with it (I’ll give you a hint to the event I’m referring to – flashlights and hotels were involved). However, this distrust has clouded our judgements and biased our opinions to the point where we don’t even try to understand what a lobbying group is and what it does for us. Our speaker and I both come from difficult and humbling backgrounds and I was quite inspired by his dedication and work ethic. I was not sure about my internship at first because I too was wary of lobbying firms, but working with and for such groups so closely I have realized the enormous potential benefits that they can provide to all of us.

So, as you read this remember, everything you use or love or want has been lobbied for, including this Blogger site and the laptop I typed it on.