• Lobbying is a word which may have negative connotations in some people's minds. Those people who are not close to the political process sometimes think that if politicians were able to make decisions in an environment free of lobbying, then better decisions could be made.
  • This is a misconception of the political process.
  • Today's issues are so complex and the agendas of the politicians are so full that they cannot possibly become knowledgeable in all the issues confronting them. Therefore, the lobbyists fill a very important educational function in our political process. In many cases, lobbyists bring arguments and information, which would not otherwise have surfaced, to the political debate.
• Our panel will review the process of lobbying. It will talk about good and bad ways to approach it, how to be effective, some of the various techniques involved and some of the pitfalls to avoid. This is a concept oriented session. As such, we will not spend a lot of time updating particular issues. However, examples will be used to illustrate how some particularly effective or ineffective lobbying approach was handled.

--  Stephen G. Kellison, 

1986 - SOA - Overview of the Lobbying Process, Society of Actuaries - 18p