Editing Lobbying (section)

==Criticism==
The ethics and morals involved with legally lobbying or [[influence peddling]] are controversial. Lobbying can, at times, be spoken of with [[contempt]], when the implication is that people with inordinate [[Socioeconomic status|socioeconomic power]] are [[Political corruption|corrupting]] the [[law]] in order to serve their own interests. When people who have a duty to act on behalf of others, such as elected officials with a duty to serve their constituents' interests or more broadly the public good, can benefit by shaping the law to serve the interests of some private parties, a [[conflict of interest]] exists. Many critiques of lobbying point to the potential for conflicts of interest to lead to agent misdirection or the intentional failure of an agent with a duty to serve an employer, client, or constituent to perform those duties. The failure of government officials to serve the public interest as a consequence of lobbying by special interests who provide benefits to the official is an example of agent misdirection.<ref>Arab Lobby in the United States Handbook, 2015 edition, published by the Global Investment Center, United States ({{ISBN|1-4387-0226-4}})</ref> That is why lobbying is seen as one of the causes of a [[democratic deficit]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Karr|first=Karolina |date=2007|title=Democracy and lobbying in the European Union.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhOQHhYU-YYC&pg=PA10|publisher=Campus Verlag |page=10 |isbn=9783593384122}}</ref> Politicians tend to vote against the preferred position of their constituency when there is more special interest money and less attention to politics.<ref name="a079">{{cite journal | last1=Balles | first1=Patrick | last2=Matter | first2=Ulrich | last3=Stutzer | first3=Alois | title=Special Interest Groups Versus Voters and the Political Economics of Attention | journal=The Economic Journal | date=31 May 2024 | volume=134 | issue=662 | pages=2290–2320 | issn=0013-0133 | doi=10.1093/ej/ueae020 | hdl=10419/193239 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>