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corruption of the government
politicians and government corruption
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Political corruption has long been a part of many governments all around the world. Even in the United States, where the equality and ju stice are upheld as important national values, corrupt politicians may still be scheming up new ways to abuse the law for their own benefit. Despite the various provisions and laws set up to deter such underhanded behavior, unscrupulous politicians are still finding loopholes in the system. One of these exploits is lobbying. Lobbying, the act of attempting to influence the decisions of government officials, should be banned to prevent bribery and corruption by large corporations and wealthy individuals.
Lobbyists are people with strong communication who seek the favors of influential people to enact a change in their community. They may achieve this through earnest proposals, petitions, favors, or bribery. From labor unions to the local senior citizen club, lobbyists are found just about everywhere. Many people naturally associate lobbying with the evil, dark side. It is important to know that lobbying itself is not a negative action. In fact, pos...
Lobbyist, hired by a corporation or a business to work for them. Getting paid to win over politicians in exchange for favors. A lobbyist’s job is to spin the truth.There are lobbyist that stray from the rules resulting in corruption. Jack Abramoff is an perfect example of a corrupt lobbyist that everybody loved. He was one of the most notorious lobbyist of our time, he was in the middle of a massive scandal, braze in corruption, and influence peddling. Abramoff became a master of showering gifts on lawmakers and congress left and right in exchange for votes on legislation and tax breaks in favor for his clients. Jack Abramoff was very well at it that he would take home millions of dollars a year. But it all came to an end in January 2006,
The current use of soft money in the US Governmental elections is phenomenal. The majority of candidates funding comes from soft money donations. Congress has attempted to close these funding loop holes; however they have had little success. Soft money violates standards set by congress by utilizing the loop hole found in the Federal Election Commission’s laws of Federal Campaigns. This practice of campaign funding should be eliminated from all governmental elections.
Interest groups, lobbyists, large corporations, and PACs try to influence the congressional committees' bills so they can have a say in the legislative process. When an interest group hears about a bill that is being debated on in a committee, they try to influence a members vote and they try to get a part of the bill changed. For example, a lobbyist came to me on a bill I proposed on making health care plans have no minimum requirement on benefits the company gives to its patients. He told me about how he did not get the right treatments and tests done on diseases he has and now is suffering badly from them. It was because the health plan did not have to give him anything extra. He changed my mind on the bill, and I changed the bill to setting a minimum standard on benefits given to patients.
in lobbying policy makers, the role of business in financing elections, and messages favorable to
This investigation analyzes the influence of lobbyists on the legislative process in Congress. It is shown that influence is difficult to measure but with a variety of variables that come into play, it can be narrowed down. To examine how much influence lobbyists have over the legislative progress, this study focuses local political action studies and studies of the success of lobbyists in certain things they do.
By establishing this relationship, the interest groups are indirectly helping the executive agencies get their funds and the interest groups gains favorable regulations and contracts from these agencies in exchange. (429) Although some critics argue that interest groups can result to Corruption such as the case with Jack Abramoff (438), Demosclerosis that slows down government functions (439), and Inequality by tilting democracy to the wealthy and powerful since they are the ones who can afford lobbying services (440), I believe that Interest groups are good for democracy. We define democracy as a government in which the people rule and make decisions for themselves, and through interest groups the people are given the chance to be better represented and become actively involve in decision-making. Interest groups represent the people specially the minority, arguably expand the range of perspectives that government officials hear, facilitate a two-way communication between the people and the government by conveying citizen views to government officials and providing information about government activities to the people, encourage
Many people argue that the legislative branch is run by few big interest groups because of their massive contributions against very small contributions from individuals. In a democratic society, power must be shared equally among its citizens, but is that the case in the United States? The answer is simply no, and by limiting their overall spending on elections, policymakers will listen and pay more attention to the public interest over the special interest. Also, by revealing the freeloaders’ names, people will have more knowledge of who is representing them and who has tended to benefit those who made contributions to their campaigns. Finally, prohibiting the spending on food, entertainment and gifts to legislative branch employee will also reduce the corruption in the legislative
Bribery occurs when money, services, goods, information, or anything else of value is offered with intent to influence a person’s actions, decisions, or opinions of the accuser. Charges can be brought against an individual, whether they offered the bribe or accept it. Bribery and public corruption cases frequently make headlines new stories daily. Bribes can take the forms of gifts or payments of money in exchange for favorable treatment like awards of government contracts (Mince-Didler, n.d.). Government officials tend to gain a huge incentive with bribery while serving their term. Other forms of bribes may include privileges, services, various goods, property and favors. Bribes are always intended to influence or alter the actions of individuals with political and public corruption (Mince-Didler, n.d.).
Lobbyists advocate on behalf of the group's interests. Lobbying can be done directly or indirectly, and can be aimed at any branch or level of government. Generally, lobbyists contact members of Congress to give them information about their cause. They give details about the effects of legislation they wish to pass or enforce. Lobbyists must present the information in the most factual way possible, while trying to convince the legislator of their point of view. The information given cannot be misleading as a lobbyist wants to keep a level of confidence with the politician. Among the information given, a lobbyist must include not only basic information about the issue but also why their position is best. They must tell why and how taking their position will benefit the legislator. Lobbyists must give the politicians political cues, telling them what they have at stake and how the issue relates to their other known inter...
Essentially, interest groups use many different tactics to accomplish their central goals but this paper will detail 2 of them. The first being lobbying, which is the act of persuading businesses as well as government leaders to help a specific organization by changing laws or creating events in favor of that group. Interest groups use this technique by hiring someone to represent them and advocate their cause to on the behalf of the entire group. These hired representatives usually have more than enough experience within the political field and are able to persuade connections within the government for help with their concerns. This method gets a lot of criticism because although lobbyist offer their input to government officials on pending laws, they only look at what is favorable for their cause. When trying to make a difference you have to not only reflect on your argument but on the side affects of that argument as
Lobbying involves more than persuading legislators. Professional lobbyists investigate and examine legislation or dogmatic proposals, are present at congressional hearings, and teach government officials and company officers on imperative issues. Lobbyists in addition work to transform public opinion all the way through advertising campaigns or by control 'opinion leaders'. There are approximately 30,000 recorded lobbyists, other than that does not comprise the public relations experts, marketers, support personnel pollsters, and others who support their work. The majority lobbyists are hard–working professionals who comprehend how to find the way the political process, gain access to lawmakers and main executive–branch officials, and construct a strategy to accomplish their legislative objective. Whether or not you like the renowned place they engage in our system, lobbyists have turn out to be such an essential part of...
...k for big business, a private individual, or even the public. The goals and strategies are the same for all lobbyist. Foremost, they must be very good at the art of persuasion, the mainstay of their job. They figure out how to sway politicians to vote on legislation in a way that favors the interest they represent. In our American democracy, people that are not elected representatives shape the laws of our country. If we continue down this path, our democracy will also one day be extinct. We need to get back to the roots of democracy and remember what the true meaning is. Power to the People!
The “advocacy explosion” in the United States in the 20th century has been caused by the extreme increase in the number of interest groups in the United States. The general public views the increase and the groups themselves as a cancer that has come to the body of American politics and is spreading. The explosion in the number of interest groups and interest group members and finances has had an effect on the decline of the American political party and partisanship, the effect on democracy and the public interest, and the bias that has come with interest group competition.
The platonic tradition of public service, as described by Lewis, is to serve society solely without regards to outside influence including their own self-interests or financial incentives. Lewis defines political judgment as, “…to spot a private interest masquerading as a public good” (p. 527). With this, the interference of business on government can have a large impact with corporations pushing policy in a certain course. Thus, it can be argued that the consideration of business in public administration is important in understanding outside motives to governmental actions. Business’s lobbying in the White House is an example of business influence on policy formation. If incentives are provided, government will sway in a particular direction. Furthermore, the concept of a two party political system demonstrates how personal interests and moral codes are embedded in the political system.
Interest groups are associations of individuals or organizations that on the basis of one or more shared concerns, attempts to influence public policy in its favor usually by lobbying members of the government. Interest groups influence on policy making is not a corrupt or illegitimate activity per se, but a key element of the decision-making process. However, disproportionate and opaque interest group influence may lead to administrative corruption, undue influence, and state capture, favoring particular interest groups at the expense of public interest. Transparency is thus key to ensure that policy-makers do not give preferential treatment for specific interest groups. Regulations on lobbying, Conflict of interest, asset.