"If the future direction of reform involves channeling money in useful political directions rather than pulling it out of the system entirely, lobbying reform fits naturally with these efforts. Indeed, just as beige is the new black, lobbying may be the new campaign finance.
Lobbying has been neglected by most people who write in the field (including me). I believe that Richard Briffault is the only election law professor to have written in depth about the many connections between the two (though others, like Sam Issacharoff and Rick Hasen, have recently moved in this direction). The rest of us, however, have made a serious mistake in neglecting the relationship between lobbying and campaign finance. That’s because the two work in tandem with each other as interest groups seek political influence. As long as lobbying and campaign donations remain both substitutes and complements, we should not study one without studying the other. Both are different means for achieving a similar set of political ends, not isolated phenomena that fit neatly into different academic silos."
Gerken: Why Lobbying as the New Campaign Finance Reform
Election Law Blog:
