Lobbyists control our government much more than most people would ever think. The act of lobbying according to Websters Dictionary is “to conduct activities aimed at influencing public officials and esp. members of a legislative body on legislation.” Does this sound a lot like advertising? Advertising according to Websters dictionary states: “to call public attention to esp. by emphasizing desirable qualities so as to arouse a desire to buy or patronize.” Many honest public officials have gone into government expecting to be honest and hard working politicians but have found the power and temptation of the lobbyists and supporting groups too much to handle. Benjamin C. Marsh a lobbyist for over fifty years said “Lobbying is now one of America’s largest industries. It has become substitute for responsible party government instead of an adjunct to democratic processes.” Much of this is because of the lobbyists and the power that they can have. In this paper we will examine the role of a lobbyist and their influence on the politics and media around us.

The government today is much more involved in our everyday lives than our founding fathers ever intended it to be. The federal government is in all parts of our lives. Everything from Business regulation, FCC Licensing, Broadcast regulations, income maintenance, energy development and much more the government controls. With so many aspects of the government almost no group of people can escape the governments power to rule, govern, tax and regulate.

Specialized groups feel that by keeping their foot in the door with the government they can prevent disastrous things from happening to their companies. Corporations and companies feel that lobbying or keeping contact with public officials is the best way of doing this. So what does this have to do with media and communication? Modern corporations need lobbyists to advertise their ideas much like a sports car company would advertise their cars. The same basic principle applies; please the buyer and sell the product.
One type of lobbying is called inside lobbying and refers to a practice in which a group strives to maintain really close relationships with policymakers. Sometimes inside lobbying depends on tangible inducements such as bribes or favors. This practice is still around but modern lobbying more often involves a more subtle and sophisticated methods than they used to have. Lobbyists who work for a television company, for example, will try to convince politicians that a law is good for broadcasting often with bribes. If the law were passed it would give much more power to the Television Company and would benefit the politicians with money for future campaigns that would perhaps get him or her re-elected.

With so much work to be done on Capital Hill it is hard for the congressmen and senators to do it all by themselves. Lobbyists do much of the work by identifying bills and laws that would be beneficial to the cause. They will then often use such tools as the media to get their view across to the public and to let the politician know that the public supports them. Like-minded politicians have trusted like-minded lobbyists working under them to help make things runs smoother and pass beneficial laws. For example in 1995 when republicans came into congress they invited corporate lobbyists to draft legislation to help out businesses across the United States. By using this technique the politicians were getting the best advice from the people that knew everything the best. Trust between politicians and lobbyists are essential for the success of both. One congressman said if he caught a lobbyist lying, he would never see that lobbyist again. Dave Chappell speaks favorably about lobbyists after spending several years as a state legislature when he states, ”Most lobbyists are quite expert in the interests they represent, and can give legislators quick feedback regarding how their clients are likely to react to proposed legislation. Lobbyists are also amazingly honest with legislators provided that the legislator knows the right questions to ask. Of course, when lobbyists approach legislators to support a piece of legislation, they will give the legislator the opinions of the people they represent. Here's the magic question: Who hates this bill? If asked, the lobbyist will honestly state who opposes their issue, and why. The reason for this is that the lobbyist's job is directly dependent on their credibility with the legislators. A professional lobbyist who is not trusted by the legislators is of no value to the groups that hire them.”

Lobbying can come in many shapes and forms. The civil rights movement was in a large part a success because of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) organization, which has been around since 1909. These types of organizations often bring unfair inequalities of laws into light of the federal judicial system and news companies, which will inform the public. In 1954 the NAACP financed the Brown case which declared racial segregation unconstitutional.

So who finances these lobbyists? Many different special interest groups spend alot of money trying to convince the government. Some examples of these organizations are; Greenpeace, National Rifle Association, Friends of the Earth, Anti Defamation League and many more. These organizations can sometimes also be classified as PACs or Political Action Committees. PACs have organized fund raising and then contribute the money to political affiliates they feel are important to the cause. The organizations are not allowed to directly give corporate profits to political organizations but are allowed to have fund-raisers. Federal regulations however prevent PAC’s from contributing too much money. In 1999 the federal limit was $10,000 per candidate. Political action committees come from all types of sources. Most Political Action Committees (44%) are run from corporations who support them. Citizens support 24% while trade associations have 22%. The rest are labor with 9% and agriculture with a diminishing amount of 42 PAC committees, which make up a total of 1% of all PACs in 1998.

Hollywood lawyer and lobbyist Jack Valenti heads one example of an organization that has done much for the movie industry. The Motion Picture Association of America fights battles in congress to help allow the movie industry to stay as free from regulation as it can. Valenti is the highest paid lobbyist with a salary of $1,000,000 per year. His biggest accomplishment was in 1968 when he put together the G through X rating system which replaced the Hays Code which was much more restrictive. This man brought together two different groups of people and as Dyan Machan of Forbes magazine stated, “Hollywood got what it wanted. The moralists got parental guidance ratings.”

So far we have looked at different forms of influencing the politicians and some may begin to wonder, do the politicians even care what the vast majority of the public thinks? The answer is yes. Grass-roots lobbying pressures politicians by convincing them that the public supports different issues. This is most commonly called outside lobbying and consists of such tactics as writing or phoning congress, seeking coverage by media, encouraging members to support candidates and the more common inside lobbying tactic of making PAC contributions. Many times Grass-roots PAC’s will run commercials informing the public. For example, look at all the anti smoking commercials and the influence they have had with just a little bit of media.

As we have seen, lobbying is an extremely touchy methodology of controlling the government and its actions. Some might say that this process is helping the government run more smoothly by having organizations help raise funds and review laws. Others however would say that such things are close to criminal acts. This government was founded by the people for the people, not by the people for the big budget corporations. Senator LaFollette said, after spending many years in the government, “I believe in democracy, but will it ever work?” I personally do believe it does work to a degree and that these lobbyist and special committees along with the help of the media actually help move the work along. I feel that modesty and balance in lobbying and government is the best way to handle government control by organizations.

© Copyright 2004, John Heathcote. All Rights Reserved.