Grassroots Lobbying edit
Grassroots lobbying is a force driven by various groups of people in a certain legislative direction. These groups range from "...corporations, industry groups, public interest groups, and government agencies...".[1] This trend began near the end of the twentieth century. The increase in lobbying interest groups accompanied by the fall in public involvement in community leads to the conclusion that the public is still involved in politics and the community, just in a different way. The expansion of grassroots lobbying is linked to the change in interest group lobbying activity from "inside lobbying" to "outside lobbying".[2] The public is taking the issues into their own hands and making the changes they want to see, rather than waiting for the changes to come. As mentioned earlier, the “public” in this case can include corporations and specific government agencies as well.
Along with the rise in Grassroots lobbying in general, the goal of Grassroots lobbying has changed from solely directed at the legislature, towards the electorate. The goal is to influence the electorate to agree with a particular group view, and is a direct result of having a representative democratic society. A society where certain people represent the views of the entire body is of course going to have groups of people with opposing viewpoints trying to sway the majority in one direction or another. Grassroots is simply an orderly, less aggressive way of getting an opinion heard; when done right, as opposed to traditional lobbying. Traditional lobbying was once viewed as “the spread of insidious influence through legislative halls” in several dictionary definitions and many state laws previously restricting all lobbying. [3]
References edit
- ^ The privatization of political influence: Professional grassroots lobbying in the United States [Abstract]
- ^ Kollman, Ken. 1998. Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies. Princeton University Press
- ^ http://www.jstor.org/stable/1121034