What Does A Washington Lobbyist Do?

What is a Washington lobbyist? In the United States, lobbying has grown from a small, selective niche of people to a popular career that can, for many different reasons, be socially and financially lucrative. In most cases, lobbying describes the process in which a special cause or interest group-be it an organization or an individual-pays a highly qualified individual such as a lawyer to argue for their cause before a decision making body such as Congress. Over the years it has been subject to much scrutiny and dislike by the American public because it can easily become corrupted if let out of hand.

It is necessary to point out that lobbying occurs at every level of government, whether it is local or Federal. Basically, a lobbyist's job is to champion the cause that they are being paid to promote, and to subsequently persuade bodies of authority to champion that same cause. While this is obviously a product of democracy, it can reach an extreme. Lobbyists can sometimes hold more power and persuasion over the Senate and House than the American public itself. This can be a very serious threat to liberty if the wrong people control the lobbyists.

In one sense, every American citizen is a lobbyist. Americans often appeal to bodies of authority to change laws, implement new laws, or repeal laws. They protest wars and regulations. They are the unpaid lobbyists of the country. Therefore lobbying is simply an offshoot of a natural democratic process. However, the American public often sees paying somebody to champion your cause in a negative light.

Lobbyists, especially Washington lobbyists, are often lawyers or retired lawyers. They are in the go-between for the client and the organizations. In many cases the client is a party, an individual, a charity or a corporation. The organization can be a city council, the state legislature or the combined power of the two houses in Washington. There are two different types of lobbying: inside and outside. Inside lobbyists try to influence lawmakers by direct contact with legislators, assistants, senators and congressmen or women. Outside lobbyists attempt to make a change by mobilizing exterior forces like the public and engaging media exposure and subsequently trying to instigate change using outside methods.

Washington lobbyists are protected by the First Amendment, which outlines the right of the American people to demonstrate free speech. This includes the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, which in many cases could be used as another definition for lobbying. The last few decades has seen an explosion in the popularity of the career.

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