Lobbying Module

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of Instructor]

American Politics

[Date]

Lobbying Module

Lobbying is a bid by interest groups to persuade the government to make decisions that serve the interest of the general public (Taylor, 2016). Primarily, most of the lobbying activities take place at the national level within the committees formed by the Congress. These committees undertake crucial legislative work and overlook process before any act, policy or law goes into signing (Taylor, 2016). At the committee's hearing, lobbyists testify before the committee members regarding the consequences or implications of any policy under observation (Taylor, 2016). Furthermore, lobbyists furnish necessary information before the committee members that help them understand all the possible outcomes of any policy, law, and act (Taylor, 2016). During the committee meetings, the lobbyists comprehensively explain to committee member that why any act, bill, and the law is important for their constituency apart from elaborating all the possible positive and negative outcomes. In this way, the lobbying done by the lobbyists builds the capacity of the government to take decisions that would be beneficial for the general population.

Lobbying is a process in which powerful interest groups influence the government in taking decisions that primarily serve their interests under the pretense of larger public interest (Jollien, 2016). For instance, consider the issue of gun control. After every mass shooting large public rallies gather and raise their voice over the issue. However, this voice falls on deaf ears of the government. In December 2012, the country saw a deadly mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Massive protests were staged following the shooting. The then-President Obama promised to enact stringent gun control laws. A committee was formed and suggestions were sought from all the stakeholders before the bill was presented in the Senate. Before the presentation of the bill in the Senate, the majority of public surveys conducted revealed that up to 90pc of Americans want gun control (Berlow and Witkin 2013). Contrary to the surveys, the bill when presented in the Senate failed to receive 60 votes mandatory for passage (Berlow and Witkin 2013). The bill only received 54 votes. This instance only goes to show the power lobbies wield and how they obstruct the government from taking decisions that serve the interests of the public and not only a handful of lobbies (Berlow and Witkin 2013).

Works Cited

Berlow, A. and Witkin, G. "Gun Lobby’S Money And Power Still Holds Sway Over Congress." Center for Public Integrity. (2013).

Jollien, L. "How Do Interest Groups Play A Role In American Government? (2016)

Taylor, N. "How Do Lobbyists Influence Public Policy Decisions? ." (2016)