One of the positions in government that has the most ability to succumb to influence from outside parties is that of the legislator. All legislators hold a signficant amount of power as they are able to determine new laws, thus the way average people live. Certainly, all legislators are under constant scrutiny as it would be highly inappropriate for them to take bribes from groups who wish to influence legislative action and while most legislators steer clear of this kind of unethical activity, it likely occurs more than any of us ever hear about. Still, it is important to understand how, outside of these people wishing to influence the course of the law by bribing legislators, other factors can influence the outcome of laws.
There are a number of forces, most of which are competing, that influence the issues, agendas, and votes of a legislator. Obviously, the influence of the legislator’s constituents is-or should be-foremost among his or her concerns, as it is this community of people that has voted the legislator into office and whose needs are supposed to be represented by the person holding office. The legislator up for re-election, in particular, is aware that satisfying constituents by persuading other legislators to adopt the constituents’ concerns will be likely to affect the outcome in the voting booth.
There are numerous groups besides constituents, however, that influence legislators. Three of the most pervasive, and most criticized, influences on legislators are special interest groups, political action committees, and lobbyists. Using money or other incentives, powerful lobbyists wield their influence and entice legislators to shape their political agendas around private interests, often those of corporate entities. Still another force that influences the issue agendas of individual legislators is the political party with which the legislator is affiliated.
Many legislators vote along party lines, and are conscious that their dissent can create political problems for them in the future; thus, legislators often conform to party interests. Finally, activist and advocacy groups, though typically less well-funded than PACs and lobbies, are beginning to have a significant influence on legislators’ agendas and decisions. MoveOn.org is one such example. One sees, then, that there are numerous influence that shape legislators’ work.
With these factors in mind, it should be more clear how much the laws we live under are the result of several significant influences and how they are not simply based on the mere base opinion of the legislators who vote on them. Again, while most legislators operate ethically and do not succumb to negative influences in the laws they help to pass or reject, there are a number of opportunities for this to happen in many different ways.
