In a Newsweek piece titled "Lobbying Is Democracy in Action," Robert J. Samuelson argues that lobbyists are unfairly vilified, as if they were all "the Jack Abramoffs who wine and dine legislators." But mainly, Samuelson writes, "the anti-lobbying bias is mythology. Myth No. 1 is that lobbying is anti-democratic, because it frustrates ‘the will of the people.' Just the opposite is true: Lobbying is an expression of democracy."

As President-elect Obama seeks to refashion one-third of the economy - from the health-care sector representing about 16 percent of the gross domestic product to the energy sector representing 10 percent - Samuelson notes that "there will be a vast mobilization of interests: from radiologists to renewable energy producers; from mutual funds to hospitals."

And while Obama's election has brought this slew of lobbyists, influence peddlers, media consultants and self-styled crusaders to Washington, D.C., he writes, "the only way to eliminate lobbying would be to eliminate government."

"Therefore, the more powerful government becomes, the more lobbying there will be. We are a collection of special interests, and one person's special interest is another's job or moral crusade. If people can't organize to influence government -- to muzzle or shape its powers -- then democracy is dead," Samuelson writes.

http://www.newsweek.com/