What is Lobbying? Essay

Lobby could be defined as the process in which a person or a group of people try to influence the government or the public institutions in order to obtain a public policy implemented. It is probably one the oldest occupation in the world. Everywhere there is power, and people in power, there are lobbyists.
The lobby can be carried out by a person, a group of people (working for profit or non-profit organisation) or an agency working with various clients (for example Central Lobby Consultants CLC- in England). There are agencies who only do lobby, and others who deal with public relations or advertising, and lobby is part of the services offered by the company. There are also firms, which have teams doing the lobby and some have representatives in key political places in the world (Brussels, Washington). The non-profit organizations can be NGO's, trade unions, charities, pressure groups. For all these firms and organizations public policies can be an opportunity or a threat. Laws can ban products, increase taxes, put shops out of business, or, in contrast, adopt new policies that benefit businesses.
Lobbying has not always had a good imagine. There have been some cases when lobbying received bad press because some lobbyist did not behave very ethically. An alternative motive for the bad press is also represented by the fact that journalists sometimes feel threatened by the presence of lobbyist. Informing and influencing people and politicians is the duty of journalists, and lobbyist came along doing the same. Also, politicians can feel threatened by lobbyist because they involve in their law making monopole. But lobbyists do not seek to occupy a public office chair, they seek to exert influence.
To avoid such misunderstandings it is best that the process of informing and persuasion of the public institutions, of the public at large or of the media, is done in an open and transparent way rather than behind closed doors. This way, anyone who wants the truth or more information about what is going on in the process can have access to it. Also, since there are always at least two sides involved, it is fair that everyone can be equitably represented. Transparency builds trust. Politicians have to make decisions based on arguments, so good arguments, accompanied by an effective campaign can go a long way.
There is previously mentioned that lobby can be carried out by different organizations. We will provide next some examples of organizations that deal with lobby and what is their focus.
Pressure groups only deal with lobbying. Their purpose is to persuade politicians to adopt new policies in a certain field, for example environment (e.g. "Greenpeace"), culture (e.g. "Welsh Language Society"), human rights (e.g. "Liberty", "JUSTICE"), health (e.g. "Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco FOREST"), transport (e.g "The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association), etc. Pressure groups have their members and receive funds only if they prove they can achieve their goals and make a difference in their area of interest.