William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

FIGURE

10.1

1

2000

$1.54

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Total spending on lobbying (billions)

2

3

$4

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

2000

$1.79

2001 2002 2003

Total federal outlays (trillions)

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1

2

3

$4

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

$3.98

$3.37

Growth in Spending on Lobbying and Total Federal

Spending, 2000–2017

These data show that in recent years interest groups have spent several billion dollars lobbying the federal government. Does this

amount seem surprisingly large or surprisingly small, given what lobbyists do and given the total federal outlays of money?

344

The Business of Lobbying

Interest group lobbying is regulated.^5 Lobbying firms must file quarterly reports

identifying their clients, specifying how much each client paid, and the issues they

lobbied on. Similarly, interest groups and corporations must file reports listing staff

members who spent more than 20 percent of their time lobbying Congress, and total

expenditures to lobbying firms. Also, most executive or legislative branch employees who

take lobbying jobs are legally required to refrain from lobbying people in their former

office or agency for one year; elected officials who become lobbyists must wait two years.

Today lobbying involves billions of dollars a year. Figure 10.1 (top) presents annual

lobbying expenditures for 2000 through 2017. As the figure shows, a total of $3.37 billion

Sources: Lobbying data available at Center for Responsive Politics, “Lobbying Database,” http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby; Federal spending from Congressional Budget

Office, Historical Budget Data, April 2018, http://www.cbo.gov/about/products/budget-economic-data#2 (both accessed 8/16/18).

Chapter 10 | Interest Groups

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