The Rostrum

The Rostrum

By ROBERT E. COOK, CAE
Executive Vice President, Illinois Association of Realtors®

Lobbies
and
the
commonweal

FOR OUR Republic to function properly and effectively, it is necessary that citizens communicate their interests, opinions and aspirations to their elected officials in government. When this is done individually, it is often praised as "democracy in action." When it is done collectively, it is often condemned as "private interest lobbying."

The two descriptions represent, both in concept and in practice, a single process: the act of communicating to government an accurate representation of the public sentiment.

Frequently, outspoken individuals with political aspirations attempt to portray lobbyists and their causes as being separate and apart from, and often in opposition to, the interest of the American public. Such is not the case. Lobbyists are part and parcel of the American public, and they work to communicate information between identifiable members of the public and the government. The lobbyist is a vital communications link between lawmakers and their constituents.

Views expressed to legislators by lobbyists are no less valid than those expressed by individual citizens. A considerable body of logic could be argued to the contrary. The information communicated by a lobbyist is information generated by individual citizens. The lobbyist is employed to expedite the exchange of information between those individuals and their government. In practice, individual expression and collective communication are mutually complimentary.

Placing artificial limitations on legitimate activities of lobbyists can be viewed as an infringement on an individual's exercise of his or her right to be fully represented in government. The public well-being is not served by limiting an individual's efforts to be part of a collective expression of opinion. Rather, such efforts should be encouraged, for this is the essence of the American political system. Only those avenues of improper and undue influence should be closed to collective spokesmen. The exercise of wrongful influence, by any description, distorts the true public sentiment and is outside the realm of legitimate communication with the government.

From time to time, one or another group claims that it is or that it represents a "public interest lobby." Such an assertion has a deceptively satisfying resonance, but it does not ring true. It is not possible for any single organization to be a universal advocate for all the peoples, cultures, issues and interests that comprise the American public.

The lobbyist is employed by an identifiable group of individuals. The lobbyist expresses the opinions of those individuals to the government and often serves as a catalyst for dialogue between the two.

Often, it appears, a self-proclaimed "public interest lobby" operates in the reverse. Rather than establishing a dialogue, it will establish a series of one-way communications. The "public interest lobby" makes its own demands on the government, ostensibly in the name of the public. The "public interest lobby" receives no mandate, no direction or instruction from the public as a whole. In fact, almost every "public interest lobby" actually represents fewer individuals than most trade association lobbyists. In such a situation, the government does not receive an accurate representation of the public sentiment.

No single lobbyist or lobby can accurately represent the spectrum of public thought. Taken collectively, in an environment where legitimate lobbying practices are not infringed, lobbyists do provide very accurate information about the needs of the public.

When a self-proclaimed "public interest lobby" ceases to perform the services of a messenger and attempts to manage public opinion, and even attempts to limit collective expressions other than its own, then a major element of the political and governmental process is corrupted, and the public is exploited. □

Special Events

Second Annual Conference on Community and Economic Development, November28-30 at the Palmer House in Chicago. The conference is sponsored by the newly created Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (CCA). This year the focus will be on commercial and economic development. Inquiries should be addressed to: Kathleen Perrin, CCA, 160 N. LaSalle, Chicago, 111. 60601 (312/793^856); or John Carpenter, CCA, 303 East Monroe, Springfield, 111.62706 (217/782-7564).

Tenth anniversary celebration of the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention (Con Con), December 8 in Springfield. Delegates and staff members will hold a working session in the morning at Sangamon State University's Capital Campus (Leland Building) and will meet in the afternoon at the Old State Capitol where Con Con was first called to order by convention President Samuel W. Witwer on December8, 1969. Former staff members who wish to attend should contact Ann Lousin, John Marshall Law School, Chicago (312/427-2737), or Caroline Gherardini, Illinois Issues (217/782-0294).

Special primary election in the 10th Congressional District on December 11 to be followed by a special general election January 22 to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Abner J. Mikva (D., Evanston). Mikva's appointment as judge of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Washington, D.C., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate September 25.

November 1979/ Illinois Issues/ 35