Lobbying & the American Governmental System

Under the rubric of the governmental system of the United States of America, political and social constraints are, in theory, supposed to exist between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the government. In practice, it is often the case that one branch or another is more powerful. This may be caused by a variety of reasons, and the perception from the public is that special interest groups, the media, and other extraneous factors combine in a variety of ways to influence political decisions. There is a relatively vague area in which influence peddling becomes lobbying. Lobbying is rather restrictive, yet it is often difficult to substantially prove that lobbying has occurred, and the various social engagements in which political activities are discussed are one of the most difficult areas of governmental life to police (Cowan, 1989).

Similarly, although many in government realize that influence peddling is a serious problem, they are hard-pressed to find a cogent solution to the problem. One of the ways of addressing such situations is to legislate certain "ethical" standards, and force members of the government into compliance (Glazer, 1989). This, of course, is only viable while the person under scrutiny is actually in office. However, one of the most lucrative areas of employment for governmental officials and staffers after their term of office or appointment has expired is to become a lobbyist, political consultant, or political advisor. These

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One example of the way these three categorizations impacted within New Hampshire was the 1988 election, in which the group of candidates was as divergent on issues as it was on background and experience. It seemed as if the public opinion favored the incumbent Republican side, yet there was also evidence that showed particular special interests groups were spending large amounts of money in the state in order to bolster the amount of political acumen available for their candidate. Since the Democratic ticket was so disparate, the only major contender to receive a majority of press coverage was Colorado Senator Gary Hart. The Republicans received almost thirty percent of the national media coverage, and represents only the direct mention of the primary since the Reagan administration and policies received far more coverage as part of both domestic and national reporting (Newsweek, 4, 18, 25 January 1988; 1 February 1988, passim). One of the reasons for so much coverage and public attention was the role of the conservative interest groups, who had the ability to pour large amounts of funding into the primary and allow for national media attention. This appeared to be indicative of some of the policies that they used during

Category: Government - L