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To ''lobby'' in American politics means to talk to legislators in private to convince them to vote a certain way on specific legislation. As a noun, a "lobby" is an organization that lobbies legislatures, either for pay from a sponsor or as a public service.
To ''lobby'' in American politics means to talk to legislators in private to convince them to vote a certain way on specific legislation. As a noun, a "lobby" is an organization that lobbies legislatures, either for pay from a sponsor or as a public service. A lobby works for an '''interest group'''.
The term was in bad odor in the early 20th century, with many people (like [[Woodrow Wilson]]) convinced that it undermined representative government by skewing the thinking of legislators.
In the 19th century, the most important lobbies worked on behalf of a wool tarioff and railroad subsidies. In the early 20th century effective lobbyists represented the [[Anti-Saloon League]] (to prohibit alcohol, and farm interests.
In recent decades thousands of lobbysists are at work in washington for every possible interest. Lobbysists are also active in all the state capitols.
The term was in bad odor in the [[Progressive Era]] early 20th century, with many reformers (like [[Woodrow Wilson]]) convinced that it undermined representative government by skewing the thinking of legislators.
In reality, lobbyists spend most of their efforts providing information on specific legislation, pro or con, and letting the information sway the legislator. Bribery has always been illegal and hints of bribery destroy the effectiveness of a lobbyist.
In reality, lobbyists spend most of their efforts providing information on specific legislation, pro or con, and letting the information sway the legislator. Bribery has always been illegal and hints of bribery destroy the effectiveness of a lobbyist.
[[category:political terms]]
==further reading==
* Balogh, Brian “‘Mirrors of Desires’: Interest Groups, Elections, and the Targeted Style in Twentieth-Century America,” in Meg Jacobs, William J. Novak, and Julian Zelizer, eds. ''The Democratic Experiment: New Directions in American Political Theory,'' (2003), 222–49
* Clemens, Elisabeth S. ''The People’s Lobby: Organizational Innovation and the Rise of Interest-Group Politics in the United States, 1890–1925'' (1997)
* Hansen, John M. ''Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919–1981'' (1991);
* Thompson, Margaret S. ''The "Spider Web": Congress and Lobbying in the Age of Grant'' (1985) on 1870s
* Tichenor, Daniel J. and Richard A. Harris, “Organized Interests and American Political Development,” Political Science Quarterly 117 (Winter 2002–3): 587–612 [ in JSTOR]
[[category:political Terms]]