Editing Lobbying (section)

===United States===
{{Main|Lobbying in the United States}}

[[File:K Street NW at 19th Street.jpg|thumb|[[K Street (Washington, D.C.)|K Street NW at 19th Street]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], part of downtown Washington's maze of high-powered "[[K Street (Washington, D.C.)|K Street lobbyist]]" and [[law firms|law firm]] office buildings]]

In the United States, some special interests hire professional advocates to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies, such as [[United States Congress|Congress]]. Some lobbyists are now using [[social media]] to reduce the cost of traditional campaigns, and to more precisely target public officials with political messages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2016/07/13/government-lobbyists-social-media/|date=13 June 2016|title=Government Lobbyists Are More Nimble Than Ever|work=Fortune}}</ref>

A 2011 study of the 50 firms that spent the most on lobbying relative to their assets compared their financial performance against that of the [[S&P 500]], and concluded that spending on lobbying was a "spectacular investment" yielding "blistering" returns comparable to a high-flying [[hedge fund]], even despite the financial downturn.<ref name="twsM23">{{cite news |first= Brad |last= Plumer |title= The outsized returns from lobbying |newspaper= [[The Washington Post]] |quote= ...Hiring a top-flight lobbyist looks like a spectacular investment ... |date= October 10, 2011 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-outsized-returns-from-lobbying/2011/10/10/gIQADSNEaL_blog.html |access-date= 2012-01-13}}</ref> A 2011 [[meta-analysis]] of previous research findings found a positive correlation between corporate political activity and firm performance.<ref name="tws2NovZ111">{{cite journal |author1=Lux, Sean |author2=Crook, T. Russell |author3=Woehr, David J. |title= Mixing Business With Politics: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Outcomes of Corporate Political Activity |journal= Journal of Management |doi= 10.1177/0149206310392233 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=223–247  |date= January 2011 |s2cid=144560276 |url= http://jom.sagepub.com/content/37/1/223.abstract |access-date= November 26, 2012}}</ref> A 2009 study found that lobbying brought a  [[Rate of return|return on investment]] of as much as 22,000% in some cases.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Law and Politics | ssrn=1375082 | doi=10.2139/ssrn.1375082 |doi-access=free | title=Measuring Rates of Return for Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Case Study of Tax Breaks for Multinational Corporations | date=2009 | last1=Alexander | first1=Raquel Meyer | last2=Mazza | first2=Stephen W. | last3=Scholz | first3=Susan | hdl=1808/11410 | s2cid=167518602 |s2cid-access=free | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Major American corporations spent $345 million lobbying for just three pro-immigration bills between 2006 and 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/02/how-did-opening-borders-to-mass-immigration-become-a-left-wing-idea/|title=How did opening borders to mass immigration become a 'Left-wing' idea?|date=11 February 2016|access-date=7 July 2018|archive-date=25 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325211050/http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/02/how-did-opening-borders-to-mass-immigration-become-a-left-wing-idea/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A review of 30 food and beverage companies spent $38.2 million on lobbying in 2020 to strengthen and maintain their influence in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Doering |first1=Christopher |title=Where the dollars go: Lobbying a big business for large food and beverage CPGs |url=https://www.fooddive.com/news/where-the-dollars-go-lobbying-a-big-business-for-large-food-and-beverage-c/607982/ |website=fooddive.com |publisher=Food Dive}}</ref>

A study from the [[Kellogg School of Management]] found that political donations by corporations do not increase shareholder value. The authors posit a few reasons that firms continue giving despite little returns, including signaling firm values to investors and [[Consumption (economics)|consumption value]] for individual managers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/do-corporate-campaign-contributions-buy-influence|title=When Corporations Donate to Candidates, Are They Buying Influence?|date=5 September 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fowler |first1=Anthony |last2=Garro |first2=Haritz |last3=Spenkuch |first3=Jörg L. |date=2020 |title=Quid Pro Quo? Corporate Returns to Campaign Contributions |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/707307 |journal=The Journal of Politics |language=en |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=844–858 |doi=10.1086/707307 |s2cid=11322616 |issn=0022-3816}}</ref>

[[Financial services in the United States|Wall Street]] spent a record $2 billion trying to influence the [[2016 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Wall Street spends record $2bn on US election lobbying |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5060844a-0420-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9 |work=Financial Times |date=March 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Wall Street Spent $2 Billion Trying to Influence the 2016 Election |url=https://fortune.com/2017/03/08/wall-street-2016-election-spending/ |work=Fortune |date=March 8, 2017}}</ref>

====Foreign lobbying====
[[File:John Mearsheimer.jpg|thumb|[[John Mearsheimer]] thematized the influence of lobbyists in his book called ''The Israel Lobby''.]]
Foreign-funded lobbying efforts include those of [[Israel lobby in the United States|Israel]], [[Saudi Arabia lobby in the United States|Saudi Arabia]], [[Turkish lobby in the United States|Turkey]], [[Egypt lobby in the United States|Egypt]], [[Pakistani lobby in the United States|Pakistan]], and [[China Lobby|China]] lobbies. In 2010 alone, foreign governments spent approximately $460 million on lobbying members of Congress and government officials.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rollcall.com/news/Lobbying_by_Foreign_Countries_Decreases-208745-1.html |title=Lobbying by Foreign Countries Decreases |website=[[Roll Call]] |date=September 14, 2011 |first1=Alex |last1=Knott |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180813041350/http://www.rollcall.com:80/news/Lobbying_by_Foreign_Countries_Decreases-208745-1.html |archive-date= Aug 13, 2018 }}</ref>

In the US, lobbying for foreign governments is not illegal, but it requires registering as a foreign agent with the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] under the [[Foreign Agents Registration Act]] (FARA).<ref name=Pol-24-01-2021>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/24/trump-foreign-lobbying-461715 |first1=Theodoric |last1=Meyer |title=One of Trump's final acts will allow former aides to profit from foreign ties|access-date=24 January 2021|website=Politico|date=24 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/6082408/thomas-barrack-trump-uae/ |date=July 21, 2021 |first1= Philip |last1=Elliott |title=Foreign Lobbying Isn't Inherently Bad—Until There Are Lies|accessdate=21 July 2021|magazine=TIME}}</ref> Unofficially, according to ''[[Politico]]'', 'many lobbyists try to avoid representing countries that have tense relationships with [[United States|Washington]] or troubled human rights records'. Between 2015 and 2017, around 145 registered lobbyists were paid $18 million by Saudi Arabia to influence the U.S. government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=2017-05-19 |title=As Trump Travels to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom's D.C. Lobbying Surge Is Paying Off |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/05/19/as-trump-travels-to-saudi-arabia-the-kingdoms-d-c-lobbying-surge-is-paying-off/ |website=The Intercept |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206015555/https://theintercept.com/2017/05/19/as-trump-travels-to-saudi-arabia-the-kingdoms-d-c-lobbying-surge-is-paying-off/ |archive-date= Feb 6, 2024 }}</ref>

In January 2017, an order by [[Donald Trump]] led to a lifetime ban on administration officials from lobbying for foreign governments and a five-year ban on other forms of lobbying.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/29/trump-imposes-lifetime-ban-on-some-lobbying-five-years-for-others.html|title=Trump imposes lifetime ban on some lobbying, five years for others|accessdate=29 January 2017|website=CNBC|date=29 January 2017 }}</ref> However, the rule was revoked by Trump right before the end of his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/trump-revokes-lobby-ban/index.html|title=Trump revokes rule barring lobbying by former officials as he leaves office|accessdate=20 January 2021|website=CNN|date=20 January 2021 }}</ref> A number of Trump allies were found guilty of lobbying on behalf of foreign governments during the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 US elections]], including [[Paul Manafort]];<ref name=Pol-24-01-2021 /> Elliott Broidy pleaded guilty in October 2020 to failing to register as a lobbyist for a foreign individual.<ref>Criminal Information ¶2, United States v. Broidy, No. 1:20-cr-00210-CKK (D.D.C. Oct. 6, 2020), ECF No. 1, https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/doc1/04518098081; Statement of Offense ¶1, United States v. Broidy, No. 1:20-cr-00210-CKK (D.D.C. Oct. 20, 2022), ECF No. 7, https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/doc1/04518124322</ref>  On January 19, 2021, President Trump granted Mr. Broidy a full and unconditional pardon.<ref>Executive Grant of Clemency (Jan. 19, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/media/1117706/dl?inline</ref>