An ethical approach to lobbying activities of businesses in the United States

This paper presents an ethical approach to the use of lobbying within the context of the relationships among U.S. organizations, their lobbyists, and government officials. After providing a brief history of modern-day lobbying activities, lobbying is defined and described focusing on its role as a strategic marketing tool. Then ethical frameworks for understanding the impact of these practices on various external constituencies are delineated with an emphasis on the communitarian movement advanced by Etzioni. Consistent with the call for 'informed advocacy' by Laczniak (1993), the paper closes with an examination of the ethics of specific lobbying activities. KEYWORDS: business strategy, communitarianism, ethics, lobbying