Leech, B: Lobbyists at Work

Scuttlebutt has it that lobbyists run Washington, and special interests run lobbyists-but what makes lobbyists run and how do they do it? Lobbyists at Work elicits the answers by interrogating sixteen political advocates who run the gamut of the 200,000-strong lobbying profession.

The interviewees profiled in this book range from the top lobbyists-for-hire at the most powerful K Street firms to pro bono lobbyists for the disenfranchised and powerless. The roster includes all types of lobbyists, for all types of clients, in all sectors, seeking to influence all levels and branches of government: business-lobbying-government,government-lobbying-government, government-to-business revolving door, citizen groups on the left and right, lobbying firms and law firms, single-issue and multiple-issue, respectable and louche. The interviewees describe in colorful and sometimes hilarious detail their arsenal of traditional and next-generation lobbying techniques: face-to-face persuasion of elected officials and their staffs, direct and oblique contributions, ghost-drafting complex legislation and regulation for government committees and agencies, and astroturfing social media campaigns.  In Lobbyists at Work, the interviewees open up about themselves and their profession: why they chose to become lobbyists, what motivates them to keep lobbying, how they cultivate their lobbying influence,how they adjust to changes in the rules affecting their lobbying methods, and what they actually do at work each day (and night). As an authority on lobbying who is well-known in Washington for her impartiality, Beth Leech elicits from her characteristically reticent subjects frank disclosures and riveting stories about the good, the bad, and the ambivalent on both sides of the symbiotic relationship between government officials and lobbyists.

This unprecedented assemblage of in-depth interviews with lobbyists of all flavors and stripes   takes concerned American citizens and students of politics inside and beyond the headlines to see first-hand how lobbyists shape legislation, regulation, policy, and spending in all branches and at all levels of American government on behalf of special interests and constituencies. provides vivid accounts from the mouths of lobbyists of what they, their clients, and the government officials they seek to influence really do-and what they really think about what they do. serves as a touchstone and career tip sheet for individuals who are interested in becoming lobbyists, public advocates, or citizen activists.