The lobbying system in the United States, though essential for democracy, is in need of ever-evolving regulation to keep up with change, Harvard University professors said Thursday at Boston University.
Speaking to a crowd of about 20 at the BU School of Law, Harvard professors Mark Fagan and Tamar Frankel said though lobbying promotes democracy, it can also be a corrupting force, demonstrated by the scandals aired on primetime news.
‘It isn’t an easy problem to solve,’ Fagan said.
About $3.3 million was spent in lobbying in 2008 by 14,000 Washington lobbyists, Fagan said.
But not all lobbying is bad, Fagan said. For example, through the lobby group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, one woman who had lost a daughter to drunk driving successfully lobbied a bill through Congress to raise the drinking age, Fagan said.
But bribery is often involved in lobbying, hindering the democratic process, they said.
Lobby regulation began in 1876 after Samuel Colt spent more than $100,000 in bribes while lobbying to get his patent on the revolver extended. In less that 140 years since then, only six pieces of legislation have attempted to successfully regulate the lobby industry, Fagan said.
This regulation is very important, Fagan said.
‘If we’re going to have the right to spend money, we need a way to control it,’ he said.
But people always find ways around the regulation, creating scandal and requiring new legislation to be drafted, he said.
‘In a relatively short period of time, people learn how to skirt around it,’ Fagan said.
Fagan said looking at the root issues of the lobbying problem is an important way to find alternative means of regulating the industry. Government officials are not highly paid which makes them vulnerable to bribes and gifts, he said.
Fagan and Frankel presented their ideas for fixing a broken system, including thorough campaign finance reform, increased transparency and regulation that automatically come up for review every few years. They asked for audience response to their ideas.
When Fagan suggested increased compensation for government officials, one student responded, ‘It would be hard to out-bribe the bribers.’
Frankel pointed to judges as models because they are a group of officials who are involved in relatively few scandals. She said their record can be attributed to a focus on matters other than money.
‘Sometimes respect is very important,’ she said.
LAW student Valerie Moore said she enjoyed the lecture, but wished the speakers had spent some time discussing citizen lobby groups, which she said are an understated section of the lobby industry.
LAW student Walid Sharara said he appreciated the lecture because beforehand, he only knew of the negative side of lobbying presented in the media.
‘I came to educate ourselves about meaning of lobbyists, not in the media,’ Shahara said. The regulation of lobbying is a ‘wack-a-mole game,’ he said.
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