Should i be a lobbyist

Lobbying involves the advocacy of an interest that is affected, actually or potentially, by the decisions of government leaders. Individuals and interest groups alike can lobby governments, and governments can even lobby each other. The practice of lobbying is considered so essential to the proper functioning of the U.

Constitution: "Congress shall make no law … abridging … the right of the people peaceably … to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The practice of lobbying provides a forum for the resolution of conflicts among often diverse and competing points of view; provides information, analysis, and opinion to legislators and government leaders to allow for informed and balanced decision making; and creates a system of checks and balances that allows for competition among interest groups, keeping any one group from attaining a permanent position of power.

Lobbyists can help the legislative process work more effectively by providing lawmakers with reliable data and accurate assessments of a bill's effect. The role lobbyists play in the legislative arena can be compared to that of lawyers in the judicial arena.

Just as lawyers provide the trier of fact judge or jury with points of view on the legal issues pertaining to a case, so do lobbyists provide local, state, and federal policymakers with points of view on public policy issues.

Although lobbying as a whole serves as a checks-and-balances safeguard on the legislative process, individual lobbyists are not necessarily equal. Unlike voters, who each get one vote, lobbyists vary in their degree of influence. The level of influence a lobbyist has over the legislative process is often proportional to the resources—time and money—the lobbyist can spend to achieve its legislative goal.

Some people think lobbyists in general have too much power. It is not allowed to have a will of its own. The term lobbyist has been traced to the mid-seventeenth century, when citizens would gather in a large lobby near the English House of Commons to express their views to members of Parliament. Lobbyists are able to make campaign donations coming from their client corporations.

But clearly legislators will know the size of the donation and will thank the lobbyists for the campaign support. All said, raising enough campaign finance money is a cancer that gets legislators to focus more on the interests of big corporations and wealthy families than on what best serves the interests of the voters in their district. We must recognize lobbying as essentially a marketing activity. The client hires a lobbyist with an issue in mind and together identifies the key legislators, their voting tendencies, and their susceptibilities; all in order to develop the right information, communication, and persuasion strategy.

Successful lobbying requires deft persuasion skill, and has much in common with such activities as management consulting and public relations. Lobbyists hope to develop a close and trusting relation with various legislators and supply them with helpful information.

Lobbyists must not commit the error of feeding dishonest facts to the legislator and thereby embarrassing the legislator, who will never again deal with that lobbyist. Although the facts are usually correct, the lobbyist puts them into a context that favors voting a certain way.

Most often the legislator phones them and asks for a political contribution, even stating the amount. The total cost of federal campaigns has skyrocketed in recent years, and elected officials must spend countless hours on the phone raising money for their campaigns.

The real story here was not one of lobbyists corrupting some otherwise honest policymakers, but one of elected officials hitting up lobbyists through a form of legalized extortion. Lobbyists are paid a salary and are given a budget to cover expenses and also contributions to legislator campaigns.

The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ended up declaring that businesses were persons with a right to influence other citizens. The result is that more Americans see special interests funnel huge amounts of business money into influencing Congress and that business interests control the legislatures. Does the lobbying activity really pay off? Some studies have tried to show that legislators were not influenced by campaign contributions.

But Lessig shows that influence can occur in other ways such as delaying certain bills, modifying certain bills. Other studies say that lobbying has a great impact on Congressional bills and policy making. A meta-analysis of research findings found a positive correlation between corporate political activity and firm performance. Clearly governments must pass laws regulating the influence of lobbyists.

Lobbying is subject to extensive rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Yet the activity of lobbying is legal and is interpreted by court rulings as free speech and protected by the U. Continue reading. In a way, lobbyists never stop becoming lobbyists. This is because the work demands a never ending dogged commitment to building key relationships and networking.

Based on our pool of users, lobbyists tend to be predominately enterprising people. This finding is not at all surprising, because at its core, lobbying is persuading. And to be effective, persuasion must be creative, imaginative, resourceful, innovative, and adventurous. It must be enterprising. It is not possible to definitively state how long it takes to become a lobbyist, simply because there are countless potential pathways to the profession.

In many cases, individuals transition to a lobbying role from another career. The primary objective of lobbyists is to influence policy. This mandate naturally calls for people who are interested in global and political issues and who are sociable and influential. In view of these requirements, you should ask yourself some pointed questions before considering this career:. The successful lobbyist invariably can answer all of these questions with an unqualified yes. Lobbyists are also known as: Government Relations Specialist.

What is a Lobbyist? To succeed in this sometimes ruthless field, a lobbyist must be: A Master Communicator Every successful lobbyist is a master communicator. Some of this information may also be discussed in the advocacy politics cluster at the GSPM, in particular, the three-credit course State and Intergovernmental Politics.

A lot of it involves connections and working your way up. In a recent piece he wrote for Vox, Williams noted that he started out as an unpaid intern in the U.

He then took the tools and methods he learned in civil service and brought them with him when he applied to work for a lobbying firm. According to data collected from the Center for Public Integrity, a lobbyist salary can run well into the six figures, but the ability to reach this income level is largely contingent on the lobbying organizations in question and what they charge. In , total spending on lobbyists in the U. The industries that have spent the most since January include pharmaceuticals, electronics, insurance, oil and gas, and business associations.

A career as a lobbyist requires leveraging a combination of hard and soft skills, and building upon them through hard work and dedication. If you have a way with words and excel at communicating your ideas in a compelling way, working as a professional lobbyist may be the ideal position for you.

Find more details on the curriculum and what some former students have done with their degree by visiting the program page. Founded in as The Columbian College on land provided by former President George Washington, the University has since developed into a leading educational and research institution.

In addition to 4, staff members, The George Washington University enrolls an even balance of undergraduate and graduate students; approximately 11, of the former and 12, of the latter.

When GW opened its doors in as The Columbian College in the District of Columbia, it boasted three faculty members, one tutor, and 30 students.

In , the name of the institution was changed to The George Washington University. The debt of the University to George Washington is intangible, but clear. To help cover its cost, Washington left a bequest of 50 shares of stock in the Potomac Company, a canal building enterprise.