Thought Leadership
Lobbying – the Art of Political Persuasion
Lobbying is the act of convincing someone using effective and ethical tactics to create legislation or conduct an activity that will help the organization to develop. People who do lobbying are called lobbyists.
Origin of the Term ‘Lobbying’
Lobbying is an essential part of the democratic process. There are two streams of thought about the origin of the term lobbying.
The members of the British Parliament used to congregate in hallways (or lobbies) and discuss matters of public interest informally. As a result, the terms lobbying and lobbyist came into being. The second stream of thought is that the term lobbying was coined during the presidency of Ulysses Grant, the 18th President of U.S.A. The President used to frequent the lobby of a certain hotel for refreshments. Individuals who were seeking an audience with him to confer informally used to visit him in this lobby. Therefore, they came to be known as lobbyists.
Role of Lobbyists
Lobbying as a vocation has been gaining in popularity in the past few years. Lobbyists operate in a variety of enterprises such as law firms, public affairs and non-governmental organisations. Gaining admission to decision-makers and aiding in the political developments of a country are some of the key roles of a lobbyist.
A couple of methods of lobbying include:
- Writing letters / e-mails to key target audiences in order to express the subject with lucidity.
- Meetings with clients to discuss the issue on a large scale campaign involving multiple key spokespersons using various media channels / public rallies.
Today, successfully conveying a particular message to political leaders is becoming increasingly difficult. Lobbyists help to convey this message. Lobbying requires good use of reliable information in order to develop a focused campaign. A good lobbyist can thus gain a lot of success in the domain of public affairs for many organizations.
