Lobbying and Democracy (1): Why Lobbying Is Protected by the First Amendment

Source: http://www.fractionofdot.com/?p=146

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

The U.S. constitution protects the right to petition the government for a redress of grievance. In other words, the constitution protects the right to lobby. Without conflicting factions representing their interest to the government, the government cannot be responsive to the public. Lobbying is a practice of pressuring the government into specific public policy measures and it is done people of every political spectrum and policy issue. From healthcare sector, financial sector, manufacturing sector, defense sector, fossil energy sector, clean energy sector, human rights activists, animal rights activists, gender rights activists, environmental activists, to labor unions etc., every interest group is constantly communicating its side of the story to the government and the public.

There are at least two reasons why lobbying is important to a free society.

1. In a free society, there is no such thing as a singular public interest. Conflicts and differences in interest and passion are the price of liberty.[1] The notion that without lobbyists, the government will respond to the will of the people is simply not true. The will of an interest group among the people is represented through lobbying. In democracy, the people have to be political and voice our interests in a strategic manner. Modern governments have countless of issues at hand. The voice of an interest group that has a better strategy, better organization, better understanding of the legislation and regulatory process, better argument, and better alliance and coalition will emerge on the top of the government’s agenda.

2. Public policy is extremely complicated. We may have our own clear answers to some issues. Many people have clear answers of how they want public policy to benefit themselves and many people have prejudices that their benefits are the closest to public or national benefit. However, the government has to respond to extremely diverse groups of people and there is no simple answer that can satisfy majority of the people and still maintain some sort of a vision for a better future of the country in the long run. The government just simply cannot decide what to act based on only one point of view or only one scientific, economic or social study. To accumulate and articulate interests of the people and respond to a fragmented will of the people, the government need lobbyists. The people who are not political enough or are not strategic enough will lose. The interest groups who do not have coalitions because their benefits are the same with only few groups will lose to the interest groups whose benefit are the same with a larger portion of the society. It is also important for interest groups to have compelling arguments of how their benefits are mutually beneficial to public or national benefit.
Lobbying in the U.S. is regulated by Lobbying Disclosure Act (1995) to ensure that lobbyists are registered and acts of advocacy are reported.

In this first article of the series, we have discussed about how lobbying is important to democracy in principle. However, in real life, some advocacy groups may have grown too powerful for public good. Their power may be the reason why public perception of lobbying is negative. We will discuss about it more in the next article.

Articles in this series

Lobbying and Democracy (2): Do Some Advocacy Groups Have Too Much Power?

Lobbying and Democracy (3): 8 Leverage Points in Legislation Process

Lobbying and Democracy (4): Building Coalition

Lobbying and Democracy (5): Framing Arguments

[1] “The Avalon Project : The Federalist Papers No. 10.” The Avalon Project : The Federalist Papers No. 10. Accessed June 16, 2016. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed10.asp.

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