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In politics, lobbying or advocacy, is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies, but also judges of the judiciary. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters, constituents, or private citizens; it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests; by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking; and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector. Lobbying or certain practices that share commonalities with lobbying are sometimes referred to as government relations, or government affairs and sometimes legislative relations, or legislative affairs. It is also an industry known by many of the aforementioned names, and has a near complete overlap with the public affairs industry. Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, for example amateur lobbyists such as a voter or a bloc of voters within their electoral district acting as private citizens; others like professional lobbyists may engage in lobbying as a business or profession; while others are government relations support staff who work on behalf of professional lobbyists but do not actively participate in influencing or meeting face-to-face with targeted personnel enough to be considered registered lobbyists while working in the same professional circles as professional lobbyists who are legally designated as registered lobbyists.
In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The legal term PAC was created in pursuit of campaign finance reform in the United States. Democracies of other countries use different terms for the units of campaign spending or spending on political competition. At the U.S. federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, and registers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), according to the Federal Election Campaign Act as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. At the state level, an organization becomes a PAC according to the state's election laws.
The Immigration Act of 1882 was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on August 3, 1882. It imposed a head tax on non-citizens of the United States who came to American ports and restricted certain classes of people from immigrating to America, including criminals, the insane, or "any person unable to take care of him or herself." The act created what is recognized as the first federal immigration bureaucracy and laid the foundation for more regulations on immigration, such as the Immigration Act of 1891.
The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2001 as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It has ten titles, each containing numerous sections. Title III: International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 is actually an act of Congress in its own right as well as being a title of the USA PATRIOT Act, and is intended to facilitate the prevention, detection and prosecution of international money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The title's sections primarily amend portions of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 and the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970.
The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2001 as a response to the September 11 attacks in 2001. It has ten titles, with the third title written to prevent, detect, and prosecute international money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is an agency of the Washington state government that regulates candidates, campaigns and lobbyists. It enforces the state's disclosure and campaign finances laws, and provides public access to information about lobbying activities, the financial affairs of elected and appointed public officials, and campaign contributions and expenditures.
Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.
The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 is a law of the United States federal government that amended parts of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. It strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 14, 2007.
United States v. Harriss, 347 U.S. 612 (1954), was a U.S. Supreme Court case applied directly to the Regulation of Lobbying Act.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was legislation in the United States aimed at bringing increased accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States. The law was amended substantially by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. Under provisions which took effect on January 1, 1996, federal lobbyists are required to register with the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the Secretary of the United States Senate. Anyone failing to do so is punishable by a civil fine of up to $50,000. The clerk and secretary must refer any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 was the most comprehensive reorganization of the United States Congress in history to that date.
The Investor Protections and Improvements to the Regulation of Securities is a United States Act of Congress, which forms Title IX, sections 901 to 991 of the much broader and larger Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Its main purpose is to revise the powers and structure of the Securities and Exchange Commission, credit rating organizations, and the relationships between customers and broker-dealers or investment advisers. This title calls for various studies and reports from the SEC and Government Accountability Office (GAO). This title contains nine subtitles.
Grassroots lobbying is lobbying with the intention of reaching the legislature and making a difference in the decision-making process. Grassroots lobbying is an approach that separates itself from direct lobbying through the act of asking the general public to contact legislators and government officials concerning the issue at hand, as opposed to conveying the message to the legislators directly. Companies, associations and citizens are increasingly partaking in grassroots lobbying as an attempt to influence a change in legislation.
Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.
The history of lobbying in the United States is a chronicle of the rise of paid advocacy generally by special interests seeking favor in lawmaking bodies such as the United States Congress. Lobbying has usually been understood as activity by paid professionals to try to influence key legislators and executives, which is different from the right for an individual to petition the government. It has been around since the early days of the Republic, and affects every level of government from local municipal authorities to the federal government in Washington. In the nineteenth century, lobbying was mostly conducted at the state level, but in the twentieth century, there has been a marked rise in activity, particularly at the federal level in the past thirty years. While lobbying has generally been marked by controversy, there have been numerous court rulings protecting lobbying as free speech. At the same time, the courts have made no final ruling on whether the petition clause of the US Constitution covers lobbying.
The Periodical Press Galleries (PPG), along with the Daily Press Galleries, Radio and Television Galleries, and Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery, comprise the four media galleries of the United States Congress. The United States Congress is the only legislature to divide its media into distinct press galleries. Collectively known as the Periodical Press Galleries, the PPG maintain two separate offices in the House and Senate wings of the Capitol in order to “assist Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and bona fide correspondents covering Congress, with media logistics and press-related concerns.”
A Lobby Registry, also named Lobbyist Registry, Register for Lobby Transparency or Registry of Lobbyists is a public database, in which information about lobbying actors and key data about their actions can be accessed.
The American Anti-Corruption Act (AACA), sometimes shortened to Anti-Corruption Act, is a piece of model legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws. It was crafted in 2011 "by former Federal Election Commission chairman Trevor Potter in consultation with dozens of strategists, democracy reform leaders and constitutional attorneys from across the political spectrum," and is supported by reform organizations such as Represent.Us, which advocate for the passage of local, state, and federal laws modeled after the AACA. It is designed to limit or outlaw practices perceived to be major contributors to political corruption.
The Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, nicknamed the Indian Indenture Act was enacted by the first session of the California State Legislature and signed into law by the 1st Governor of California, Peter Hardeman Burnett. The legislation led to the forced labor of many Native Americans in California, in addition to regulating employment terms and redefining criminal activity and punishment. The legislation played a crucial role in sanctioning the California genocide, in which thousands of Native Californians were killed or enslaved by white settlers during the California Gold Rush.
An Act to Encourage Immigration was a federal law passed by the 38th United States Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. It was the first major American law to encourage immigration.
References
- ↑ "United States v. Harriss, 347 US 612 - Supreme Court 1954 - Google Scholar" . Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ↑ "2066. Federal Regulation Of Lobbying Act -- 2 U.S.C. 261 Et Seq. | USAM | Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
- ↑ LobbyingInfo.org | Influence Peddling Laws | History of the Lobbying Disclosure Act
- ↑ Wright, John. Interest Groups and Congress