How is lobbying not political corruption?

The implicit understanding of politics is that the “special interests” and their lobbyists “buy” politicians, sort of like you'd buy a candy bar or a bag of chips out of a (very high-dollar) vending machine. The problem with this view is not only that is it wrong, but also that it misdirects us. read more

Lobbying is corruption because the lobbyist are not elected officials but are privately paid, are not employed to be a service to congressmen, enjoy the privileges of secrecy, and are not held to standards of transparency or accountability. read more

The amount of political activity on behalf of large corporations today is truly unprecedented. The $2.6 billion in reported corporate lobbying spending is now more than the combined under $2 billion budget for the entire Senate ($860 million) and the entire House ($1.18 billion). read more

Obviously these will never happen. But perhaps those living in rich, Westernized nations should be grateful that political corruption occurs in the twilight world of lobbyists, where they can at least catch a glimpse of the action, rather than the midnight black deals struck daily in the poorer sections of the world. read more