Special Interest/Lobby Groups

Lobbying is the attempt to influence decisions by legislators, regulatory agencies, and to a lesser extent, presidents. Lobbying groups are active during political campaigns and will usually throw their support behind one candidate or another; in exchange for such support, these groups will expect certain campaign promises to be made and kept. Lobbying also, and more commonly, refers to the activity conducted between elections, as groups attempt to influence legislators into voting one way or another on pieces of legislation that are relevant to the lobby group’s concerns. Many lobbying groups represent the interests of specific industries or even specific corporations. Others represent factions concerned with HIV/AIDS research, gender equality, conservative Christian values, or equitable relations with a specific foreign country, among others.