Self-defeating lobbying: How more is buying less in washington

The business community has greatly stepped up its political involvement. But the fragmented form of that involvement-in which each business interest lobbies separately for its own parochial goals-has meant a free-for-all in which business's collective interests have been the real loser. If it is to avoid the self-defeating consequences of much of today's lobbying, business must find a way of strengthening its collective institutions, such as the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business-Industrial Political Action Committee, and the Committee on Economic Development.