The Demand Side of Lobbying: Government Attention and the Mobilization of Organized Interests

Using data from Lobbying Disclosure Reports filed in 1996 through 2000, and linking these data with indicators of federal government attention, government spending, and the size of the business population, we are able to show a strong demand effect of government activity on lobbying. We test a variety of theories about group mobilization and lobbying by analyzing how our measures vary across 56 separate issue areas during the five-year period. Congressional hearings, an indicator of the level of government activity, explains the mobilization of groups more than federal spending or levels of economic activity in the sector. We note the importance of government in defining what is an interest, the growth in the range of government activities over time, and the linkage between the growth in the size and scope of government and the “interest-group explosion ” that many other authors have noted. Theories of group mobilization should include a prominent role for the demand effect of government attention. 1 Government Agendas, Interests, and Mobilization Why some interests mobilize to petition the government and others do not goes to the heart o