<p>We have an acquaintance who is the energy policy adviser to a member of Congress. That seems like a perfectly honorable thing to be. When you work for a lobbying organization or an industry think tank, you are similarly immersed in interesting issues. Chances are, you’ll be paid much more. However, you are a hired gun responsible for coming up with arguments to support only one side. You could say that’s not very intellectually honest, or, you could think of it as a kind of legal advocacy. Every idea has a right to a fair hearing I suppose. </p>
<p>The question is whether you’re comfortable committing yourself to only one point of view, and whether that particular point of view is one you can champion. Even when you are working in a complete moral and intellectual dead end (like tobacco lobbying) there may be a creative way out the side door, conceding the opposition’s major points while crawling your highly paid way toward some semblance of a respectable justification for what you do. But is that really the best career option you can imagine?</p>
<p>It’s interesting to hear someone with the idea of going into lobbying as a career. </p>
<p>I spent most of my career as a lobbyist at the local/regional/state level for a major trade association. I never thought about being a lobbyist until the job was offered to me, but I will admit it was a great experience for the most part…though there were major downsides.</p>
<p>People love to morally judge lobbyists as evil, and I just used to tease everyone that I had just arrived with my big black hat. You do need to have a strong sense of who you are and what you believe to do the job. There are many opportunities to shape policy in ways that are acceptable to your members, that are good for the community. Also, don’t believe that the “moral” non-profits are all that “moral” in the policies they promote or tactics they use. If you are interested in lobbying, match yourself more toward your interests and area you have expertise in rather than an organization that is “morally acceptable”.</p>
<p>Lobbyists do serve an important role by educating public officials about the affect their decisions would have on the industry they represent and giving some warning back to industry when the rules are about to change. The job is fun, always interesting and challenging.</p>
<p>The downside for me was the political aspect of lobbying. You have to be comfortable with fundraising, because at the end of the day, the politicians equate the strength of your organization with how much your members contribute to their campaigns and the significance of their voting block. If your organization is not perceived as strong and powerful, you will not be able to effectively do your job. </p>
<p>If you are interested in becoming a lobbyist, my advice is to major in a field that interests you such as environmental science, urban planning, public health, law or economics. Then either work for a public agency or elected official and become very skilled at networking. Join professional organizations and be actively involved in the community. Many lobbyists are lawyers, so getting a law degree and joining the right firm is another way to get there. Make sure your writing and public speaking skills are excellent.</p>
I don’t know about judging them as evil, but citizens are absolutely right and entitled to make moral judgments about the process. We all live with the consequences.<br>
If all they were doing is presenting data on the economic impact of legislation, their role would hardly be so controversial. But the tobacco lobby’s role, for example, went well beyond making the case for tobacco farmers. They spent decades marshaling arguments that tobacco does not cause cancer, even when they knew the evidence said otherwise. Today, the oil industry isn’t paying lobbyists and think tanks just to describe the economic impact of environmental legislation. They aren’t paying lobbyists and think tanks just to weigh and consider the evidence for global warming. They are paying lobbyists and think tanks to come up with arguments that global warming is not happening, or that we shouldn’t be making the investments and regulations needed to address it.</p>
<p>In theory, lobbying can introduce balance into the legislative process. In practice, it tends only to give the biggest megaphone to the side with the most money, which very often is not the side working in the public interest.</p>
<p>2forcollege, I am still thinking about this in a hypothetical way but I was contemplating using my summers during college to work at a: think tank, lobbying firm, and then a politician chronologically. Then going to work on the staff of a representative or senator from Texas. Work there for two years then go to law school and try to become a legistative counsel for a rep or senator, then pursue lobbying as a career. I am majoring in molecular biology and political science in college and I would probably want to work in international trade or some type of economic aspect. I realize that this is WAY more detailed than what it should be, but I am just a planner like that. Heck, i had planned my life until death at one point.</p>
<p>I understand that my interest in politics is self-interested which is partially why I would not want to run for office, i couldn’t stand to look at people and tell them that I care when in fact I don’t care at all.</p>
<p>True you have to be a certain type of person to run for office, and it’s smart of you to understand that you don’t have to be a politician to have political influence.</p>
<p>Dbate- In answer to your question, I majored in Urban Planning. I was also into debate team in hs, so I continued with some courses in college. I went straight to work in government jobs in my field after getting my BS…graduate school wasn’t as necessary then as it is now. After a few years, I had made some good contacts and when a trade association was looking for a lobbyist, they sought me out. (Probably my ability to network, write and speak well along with a technical background was what they were looking for.) I was very reluctant at first to take the job, but I ended up loving it for the most part. </p>
<p>It sounds like the path you have laid out for yourself is a good plan. (It’s funny, a friend of my daughter (who I encouraged to get on the debate team when he was in hs) is following that plan almost to a T…Ivy league college, worked at a think tank in DC after his freshman year and will be a white house intern this fall). If your interested in molecular biology, you could try to focus on developing your area of expertise around health issues, water quality or waste management (don’t laugh, Wayne Huzienga has done quite well). It sounds like you’re more interested in lobbying at the national level, and that’s fine…but there’s also plenty of work at the local and state level.</p>