For lobbyists, money doesn’t buy policy, but it can buy things that help achieve policy goals

One of the most common critiques of the lobbying of government and legislators by interest groups is that the more money organizations have the more influence they are able to ‘buy’. Using one of the largest surveys of lobbyists ever conducted Amy McKay investigates this claim, and looks at the success of lobbyists based on various factors, including finance. She finds that wealthier interest groups do not necessarily have greater public policy successes. She argues that the lobbyists that have greater success are those that have more experience in government and lobby in more venues, both of which can be(but are not necessarily) linked to greater organizational wealth.