A Better Way to Fix Lobbying
Poll after poll reveal a public convinced that lobbyists are a destructive influence. However, lobbyists are not inherently corrupting, and their influence has become an essential part of the policymaking process, writes Lee Drutman. Drutman proposes a simple, cost-effective solution to hold lobbyists more accountable and transparent: The Library of Congress should create a website that will become the de facto online forum and clearinghouse for all public policy advocacy.
Research June 6, 2011 3 min read Executive Summary That Washington is corrupted by special interests is perhaps the most common critique of the federal government. Poll after poll reveal a public convinced that lobbyists are a destructive influence, and most lobbying reform ideas accordingly take a distinctly moralizing tone. “Drain the swamp” was Nancy Pelosi’s rallying cry in 2006, backed by a promise to, on Day One, “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.” President Obama, too, spent his campaign bashing special interests (as did McCain), and also made a symbolic point of…
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