A Random Sample of Lobbying Activities Directed at the Federal Government

The issues reported here represent a random sample of issues on which lobbyists were active during 106th and 107th Congresses. Below is a list of all of our issues. We have conducted interviews and begun extensive research on each issue. When you click on an issue, a new window will appear. In the main frame, you will find a case summary providing an overview of the issue--its background, participants, lobbying activities, the main arguments used, the venues of government decision making, etc. In the smaller frame to the left, a series of links allow you to see issue group advocacy statements, bills introduced in Congress, debate from the floor of the House or Senate, Congressional hearings, governmental agency activities, statements or press releases by members of Congress, and coverage from news sources. If these links are not active, then we have not yet conducted these searches. Please look for these searches to come online in the near future. If a link is active but no information is present, that means we have conducted this search but found no relevant information about this issue.

To read more about process for selecting the issues below, please read our paper, Advocacy and Policy Argumentation (presented at the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, August 30-September 3, 2000) or our January 15, 2001 NSF proposal. Both are available in the documentation section of this web site.

Since our research is still in progress, we are further along our search activities for some issues than others. We list them here separately according to their status. As we complete the research for each issue, we will update this list.

Cases from the 106th Congress

Macroeconomics and Taxation

Civil Rights, Minority Issues and Civil Liberties