History of Lobbying
The Constitution was crafted to solve the problem of special interests by having factions compete. It protected free speech, including the right to petition the government. Throughout the nation's history, there has been lobbying at every level of government, particularly in state governments during the nineteenth century, but increasingly in the federal government in the twentieth century. The last few decades has been marked by an exponential increase in lobbying activity and expenditures.
Read more about this topic: Lobbying In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words history of and/or history:
“The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.”
—Ben C. Bradlee (b. 1921)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)