# What is political lobbying and how does it work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612 "2024-02-15T18:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackson99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Jackson99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackson99)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/21 "2024-02-25T17:15:00Z")
Is US political lobbying a problem in the US? Some say we don’t have capitalism but corporations a merger of businesses and big government by the use of political lobbying. ---
**Author:** ![Jackson99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Jackson99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackson99)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/22 "2024-03-01T18:40:13Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > If you bribe a politician, you give money (or anything of value) and in return you receive something of value that only an official can provide, by virtue of his office. Both elements (giving and receiving) are necessary because bribery is a kind of transaction. If the transaction is not complete, it isn’t bribery, only attempted bribery. > > If you lobby a politician, you do not have to give anything of value or receive anything of value. To lobby is to _attempt_ to influence a politician to take a given action. Even if you aren’t successful it is still lobbying. Bribery is only one (illegal) way to lobby, out of many. > > If you send weekly letters to your representative to complain about your tax rate, and receive no response, then you have lobbied the politician (unsuccessfully, I might add). Yet you neither gave him anything of value nor received anything of value. There is no transaction. It is not the same as a bribe. > > Let’s say you donate a modest sum of money to the politician’s campaign for re-election. You hope he will become ingratiated to you and lower your tax rate. You are attempting to bribe the politician, but your attempt is very poor and chances are high the politician will not feel obligated to lower your taxes. Most people who donate modest sums do so to express approval with a politician, and unless you meet with him he will probably just take the money and do nothing different. > > So you gather a petition and schedule an appointment. After much waiting you complain about your taxes to his face. He shakes your hand, says he’ll do what he can, and nothing else happens. This is because donating to a politician and even meeting with a politician is not the same as bribery. Even if you give the politician something of value, he is under no obligation to use his office to give you something of value in return. > > Even if he does end up voting to lower taxes after meeting with you, or after you donate a large sum of money, that might be because he thinks you are right rather than because he feels obligated to return the favor. There is enough _plausible deniability_ that he almost certainly won’t be charged with bribery. After all it is the job of a political representative to represent the interests of his polity. Unless he is caught on tape saying “I’ll do it if you donate another million” or some other incriminating statement, it is very difficult to prove bribery. So in some cases lobbying will create the appearance of a conflict of interest, and one may reasonably suspect donations are being treated as bribes, but proving it is very difficult. Why do some people say political lobbying is less of issue in Europe than the US? Well in the US political lobbying is problem? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/23 "2024-03-01T20:34:29Z")
> [@Jackson99](#): > > Why do some people say political lobbying is less of issue in Europe than the US? Partly because running a major campaign in the US requires a lot of money, so candidates are compelled to fundraise large sums. This means lobbyists have a built in method for getting the attention of candidates and candidates have a reason to listen to them. European elections, in general, don’t require the vast sums of money so lobbyists have less pull. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/24 "2024-03-03T07:17:36Z")
> [@Jackson99](#): > > Why do **some people say** political lobbying is less of issue in Europe than the US? Well in the US political lobbying is problem? You’ll have to ask them, sorry. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/25 "2024-03-03T07:30:01Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > European elections, in general are smaller. The population of the United States is approximately 40% of the entire population of Europe. Gavin Newsom represents more people than the entire country of Poland, and Poland is the 8th most populous country in Europe. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Jackson99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Jackson99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackson99)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/26 "2024-03-03T18:29:39Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > are smaller. The population of the United States is approximately 40% of the entire population of Europe. Gavin Newsom represents more people than the entire country of Poland, and Poland is the 8th most populous country in Europe. Well may be so but is there not more limits on the amount of money they can give in Europe than say the US? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612/27 "2024-03-03T18:49:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Partly because running a major campaign in the US requires a lot of money, so candidates are compelled to fundraise large sums. And, as I understand it, the election (and more specifically, the campaign) cycles in the U.S. are far longer, at least for Congress, the presidency, and state governors, than in most parliamentary governments. U.S. Representatives face re-election every two years; they are, in essence, _always_ in campaign mode, to a greater or lesser degree. Similarly, candidates for the presidency are often forming exploratory committees, traveling to early primary states, etc., two years or more before the general election (and a year or more before any primaries actually begin). By contrast, as I understand it, in the UK, while the next general election must be held no later than January 28th, 2025, it could happen before then, as Parliament could call for a a dissolution, and a new election, at any time. And, once an election is called for, it happens five weeks (25 working days) after that point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-political-lobbying-and-how-does-it-work/997612.md?page=1)