grassroots lobbying

Examples of grassroots lobbying in the following topics:

• Indirect Techniques

  • Grassroots lobbying asks the public to contact legislators concerning the issue at hand, as opposed to going to the legislators directly.
  • Grassroots lobbying, or indirect lobbying, is a form of lobbying that focuses on raising awareness for a particular cause at the local level, with the intention of influencing the legislative process.
  • The unique characteristic of grassroots lobbying, in contrast to other forms of lobbying, is that it involves stimulating the politics of specific communities.
  • Federal law does not mandate grassroots lobbying disclosure, yet 36 states regulate grassroots lobbying.
  • The First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of association, and freedom of petition protect lobbying, including grassroots lobbying.

• Direct Lobbying

  • Communications regarding a ballot measure are also considered direct lobbying.
  • Direct lobbying is different from grassroots lobbying, a process that uses direct communication with the general public, which, in turn, contacts and influences the government.
  • Meta-analysis reveals that direct lobbying is often used alongside grassroots lobbying.
  • Allies are also directly lobbied if a counter lobby is brought to light.
  • When groups have strong ties to a legislator's district, they will use a combination of grassroots and direct lobbying, even if the legislator's original position does not support theirs.

• Direct Techniques

  • There are three lobbying laws in the U.S. that require a lobbying entity to be registered, allow nonprofit organizations to lobby without losing their nonprofit status, require lobbying organizations to present quarterly reports, places restrictions on gifts to U.S.
  • Direct lobbying is different from grassroots lobbying, a process that uses direct communication with the general public, who in turn contact and influence the government.
  • Direct lobbying is often used alongside grassroots lobbying.
  • When groups have strong ties to a legislator's district, those groups will use a combination of grassroots and direct lobbying, even if the legislator's original position does not support theirs, which may help groups expand their coalitions.
  • Another aspect to the law is the spending restrictions between direct lobbying and grassroots lobbying—no more than 20% can be spent on grassroots lobbying at any given time, while 100% of the lobbying expenditures can be on direct lobbying.

• The Second Amendment

  • The First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of association, and freedom of petition protect lobbying, including grassroots lobbying.

• The Reforms of 1995

  • The Lobbying and Disclosure Act of 1995 was legislation aimed at bringing a level of accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States.
  • The Lobbying and Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. § 1601) was legislation aimed at bringing a level of accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States.
  • Loopholes: The legislation does not include those lobbyists whose "activities constitute less than 20 percent of the time engaged in services", thus failing to regulate grassroots (small donors) lobbying.
  • The register must also include a statement of what issues the registrant expects to lobby or what may have already been lobbied.
  • Summarize the content and effectiveness of the lobbying reforms of 1995

• Limited Government

  • The First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of association, and freedom of petition protect lobbying, including grassroots lobbying.

• Campaign Financing

  • Grassroots fundraising is a method of fundraising used by or for political candidates.
  • Grassroots fundraising is a way of financing campaigns for candidates who don't have significant media exposure or candidates who are in opposition to the powerful lobby groups.
  • It often involves mobilizing grassroots support to meet a specific fundraising goal, or it sets a specific day for grassroots supporters to donate to the campaign.
  • Ron Paul is a congressman from Texas who employs the method of grassroots fundraising.

• Leadership

  • When interest groups attempt to influence policymakers through lobbying, they usually rely on professional lobbyists.
  • Additionally, the strategist determines where advertisements will be placed, where grassroots organizing efforts will be focused, and how fundraising will be structured.
  • Because of these factors, social movements do not always have a clear leader the way corporate lobbying efforts and media campaigns do.

• Lobbyists and Special Interest Groups

  • When people think about lobbying, they often imagine corruption and poor policy results.
  • Lobbying does not always have such deleterious effects.
  • Many lobbyists work in lobbying firms or law firms, some of which retain clients outside of lobbying.
  • One study found that the actual number of firms which do lobbying regularly is fewer than 300, and that the percent of firms engaged in lobbying was 10 percent from 1998-2006.
  • Corporations considering lobbying run into substantial barriers to entry: Corporations have to research the relevant laws about lobbying, hire lobbying firms, and cultivate influential people and make connections.

• The Constitutional Right to Petition the Government

  • As a result, the legality of lobbying took "strong and early root" in the new republic.
  • In 1953, after a lawsuit involving a congressional resolution authorizing a committee to investigate "all lobbying activities intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation," the Supreme Court narrowly construed "lobbying activities" to mean only "direct" lobbying–which the Court described as "representations made directly to the Congress, its members, or its committees".
  • Lobbying, properly defined, is subject to control by Congress, . . .
  • It is said that lobbying itself is an evil and a danger.
  • Supreme Court has protected lobbying as free speech in numerous rulings since the early republic.