Jim is a politician. Today, he and his colleagues are voting on whether oranges should be held in the same baskets as apples in their county’s supermarkets. The orange business could very well be harmed by having to share shelf space with apples because apples aren’t as nearly as appetizing as their citrus counterparts.
Mary, a lobbyist on behalf of the citrus industry in the town Jim and Mary live in, is paid by the orange business in town to try to persuade Jim not to allow apples and oranges to both be in the supermarket’s baskets at the same time. Mary is paid by the citrus industry because somebody has to do the company’s bidding for them.
And That is an Example of What Lobbying is
According to TripSavvy, a lobbyist is “an activist who seeks to persuade members of the government to enact legislation that would benefit their group.”
Lobbying is extremely prevalent in American politics, unfortunately; Senators and members of the House of Representatives are often paid thousands of dollars – if not even more than that, sometimes in the millions of dollars for just one payout – in an effort to encourage such politicians to stick up for what the special interests – lobbyists – believe in. This political process happens so incredibly frequently that it’s practically an inherent part of politics by now, at least here in the United States.
Different Types Of Lobbyists
Individuals who work as independent contractors for special interest groups are called contract lobbyists. These people do not regularly provide their services. Rather, they only lobby when work is available and convenient.
Subcontracting lobbyists are contracted to perform a specific set of duties for their special interest groups of employers. The only difference between these and the aforementioned contract lobbyists is that subcontracting lobbyists will dole their work out to others, at least in part.
Employee lobbyists are full-time lobbyists who work a lot for the special interest groups interested in swaying the opinions of politicians. These lobbyists have to register with the government.