Lobbying

Lobbyism, lobbying or lobbying is a term taken from English (lobbying) for the representation of interests in politics and society, in which interest groups ("lobbies") - mainly by cultivating personal connections - try to influence the executive, the legislature. In addition, lobbying affects public opinion through public relations. This is done primarily through the mass media. Common terms for lobbying include public affairs, political communication, and political consulting. Companies and organisations sometimes maintain a capital office or a capital representation, but also offices at the state governments.

Lobbying is an aspect of the public policy-making process in democracies and is not per se an immoral practice. Bringing interests to the attention of decision-makers is an essential feature of parliamentary democracy and can be assigned to the intermediary sphere between citizens and the state. In order to be able to make decisions in the overall interest of society, politicians must inform themselves about highly complex issues and contents. In doing so, they are dependent on well-prepared information and arguments from various interest groups. Vice versa, interest groups enter into dialogue with politicians in order to influence political decision-making processes.

Critically, it is noted that lobbying only has a positive impact on the democratic quality of a state if regulatory codes of conduct or the greatest possible transparency are observed. In particular, the ideal-typical image of lobbying is clouded by lobbying affairs (lobbying affairs for short) that become known on a regular basis. In these cases, politicians in positions of power are usually bribed with money by companies in order to make policy in the interests of the donors. In such cases, lobbying is a form of corruption.

The term lobbyism therefore often has a negative connotation, so that lobbyists rarely appear under this term, but instead use euphemistic terms such as consultant, public affairs manager or policy advisor. In 2006, Thomas Leif and Rudolf Speth introduced the term Fifth Estate for lobbying in analogy to the term Fourth Estate for the mass media, but this is considered exaggerated by other authors. Carsten Frerk wrote in 2015, after analyzing church lobbying, of the "Church Republic of Germany." Thilo Bode headlined on the 2017 glyphosate scandal in the Blättern für Deutsche und internationale Politik, in the issue, October 2018: "Lobbyism 2.0: The Industrial-Political Complex."

Term History

The term goes back to the lobby (English for "vestibule") of parliament (such as the lobby in front of a plenary chamber) - depending on the historian's origins, the lobia of the Roman Senate, the lobby of the British House of Commons or the US Congress - in which representatives of various groups reminded parliamentarians of the possibility of their being voted out of office and also held out the prospect of advantages or disadvantages for certain behaviour.

In terms of the history of words, lobbyism is also linked to its historical antecedents of antichambering (seeking influence in the antechamber of rulers) and the already late medieval activity of the "court henchmen". The slightly negative evaluation of the term in German-speaking countries may be due to this (and/or the lack of binding, transparency-generating rules for lobbying).

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Caricature of the lobby in the House of Commons (Vanity Fair, ca. 1886)

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Caricature from 1891 about lobbying an American congressman

Trading

Business associations, employers' associations, trade unions, churches, non-governmental organisations and other associations as well as larger companies and political groups specifically bring their interests into the political opinion-forming process and provide their members and the public with appropriate information. In this way, the latter can prepare themselves for expected political decisions.

However, law firms, PR agencies, think tanks and independent political advisors have also specialised as external lobbyists, brokering connections, procuring information or placing issues in the interests of their clients. Law firms are increasingly commissioned because they can protect themselves from journalists through professional secrecy.


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