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Through the prism of 15 in-depth interviews, Lobbyists at Work takes concerned American citizens inside and beyond the headlines to see first-hand how lobbyists shape legislation, regulation, policy, and spending in all branches and at all levels of American government on behalf of special interests.
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
"Lobbyists at Work is a must-read for anyone interested in the serious business of government. Leech's probing questions reflect her years of research tracking the real impact of money and influence on policy."  —Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr. (Chairman, Patton Boggs LLP)Â
Received wisdom has it that lobbyists run the American government on behalf of moneyed interests. But what makes lobbyists run, and how do they induce legislators and bureaucrats to do their bidding? These are questions for which even the harshest critics lack satisfying answers. Lobbyists at Work explores what lobbyists really do and why. It goes behind the scenes and brings back in-depth interviews with fifteen political advocates chosen to represent the breadth and diversity of the lobbying profession.
The interviewees profiled in this book range from the top lobbyists-for-hire at the most powerful K Street firms to pro bono lobbyists for the disenfranchised and powerless. The roster spans all types of lobbyists working for all types of clients and seeking to influence all levels and branches of government. The permutations include business-lobbying-government, government-lobbying-government, government-to-business revolving door, regulatory lobbying, state and local lobbying, citizen-advocacy lobbying,single-issue lobbying, and multiple-issue lobbying. In colorful and sometimes hilarious detail, the interviewees take the reader through their arsenals of traditional and next-generation lobbying techniques, including face-to-face persuasion of elected officials and their staffs, educational campaigns and coalition-building, ghost-drafting complex legislation and regulation for government committees and agencies, contributions, and social media campaigns.Â
In Lobbyists at Work, the normally self-effacing subjects open up about themselves and their profession: why they chose to become lobbyists, what motivates them to keep lobbying, how they cultivate their lobbying influence, how they adjust to changes in the rules affecting their lobbying methods, and what they actually do at work each day (and night). As an authority on lobbying respected in Washington for her impartiality, Professor Beth Leech elicits frank disclosures, career tips, and riveting stories about the good, the bad, and the ambivalent on both sides of the symbiotic relationship between government officials and lobbyists.
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Lobbyists at Work
Authors: Beth L. Leech
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4302-4561-2
Publisher: Apress Berkeley, CA
eBook Packages: Business and Economics, Business and Management (R0), Apress Access Books
Copyright Information: Beth L. Leech 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4302-4560-5Published: 25 April 2013
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4302-4561-2Published: 08 July 2014
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 272
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Business and Management, general