Personal and Professional Connections are Premium: An Assessment of Mandatory Waiting Periods in the American States

The advantages of policy and procedural expertise allow revolving door lobbyists to bypass the costs required of non-revolving door lobbyists. This professional upper hand gives advantages to the special interest groups that these revolvers represent. In a cross-sectional analysis and comparative case study of two American states, I find that a state without a mandatory waiting period for legislators yields a higher number of revolving door lobbyists than a state with a mandatory waiting period. The findings of this research suggest that lobbying laws are effective in addressing the saturated influence and involvement of former legislators in the policy making process