The Lobbyist

By Hannahclover

  • First Lobbyist

    First Lobbyist
    The Princeton ReviewLobbyists "must figure out how to sway politicians to vote on legislation in a way that favors the interest they represent.”-The Princeton Review. Lobbying began with the first congress in the late 1700's after the deaths of the majority of key political philosophers. Thomas Hobbes’s idea of politics without the influence of religion and John Locke’s rebellion against the king and uprising of the English Revolution are gateways to the concept of lobbying.

  • Common Sense

    Common Sense
    In the pamphlet Common Sense, published in 1776, Thomas Paine lobbied for America’s independence from British government and the royal monarchy. The arguments he made advocated for a declaration of independence which eventually contributed to the American Declaration of Independence and was the first to openly challenge the authority of Great Britain. http://thomaspainelives.com/category/lobbyists/.

  • The Constitution

    The Constitution
    The Federalist and Republican parties built a network of supporters that would lobby for a new and improved Constitution, or for it to remain as it was initially created. Anti-federalists did not want to ratify the Constitution because it gave too much power to the national government, congress, and the executive branch. Federalists argued that the separation of powers into three independent branches protected the rights of the people. Supporters lobbied for their side.

  • The Judicial Branch

    The Judicial Branch
    Thur. Dec. 7, 2006, Supreme Court denied justice to “Whether Race Based Pupil Assignment Systems Are Constitutional.” The case focused on promoting racial diversity by using a pupil’s race as a tie-breaking factor of enrollment into a school. The court’s final decision accused school officials of supporting segregation instead of racial equality. Congress claimed that the ruling “will make it easier for corporations and lobbyists to buy the policies they want” if schools ran on sole authority.

  • Bills

    Bills
    Lobbyists “exert pressure on Congress to pass, defeat, or interpret legislation to their own advantage.” They draft new legislation, testify as an expert about legislation, and apply pressure on the President to pass or veto a bill. The Political Action Committees by Federal law, limit the money that lobbyists can give to a political campaigns such as the National Organization for Women who doubled the number of women serving in Congress; this is an example of lobbyists at work. Pg 201-202

  • Executive Branch

    Executive Branch
    [Lobbying the Executive Branch: Current Practices and Options for Change](http:/fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/133502.pdf)The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 requires that individuals must register with the House of Representatives and the Senate if they wish to lobby executive branch officials. Registered lobbyists and executive branch employees focus on written and oral communication between lobbyists and executive branch officials concerning lobbying requirements and the steps taken by the Obama Administration to limit, monitor, and provide options for modifications regarding current lobbying laws and practices.