Lobby and Bribery: Which is the Legally Considered Moral Act?
As human societies started to materialize, laws and norms to keep its organization were constructed. The government, as it plays its role as the enforcer and creator of laws, had drastically made a clear influence to man’s perception and outlooks about politics. The implementation of regulations may be beneficial but may also be a burden to some individuals thus actions to make these laws bow towards one’s interests – may it be legal or not – are taken by some. Though lobbyand bribery may seem to be illegal acts, one of them actually abides to the law. Which among the two is to be considered a legal act?
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence a government official’s decisions by an individual in behalf one’s interests. The doer of this action, often referred to as the lobbyist, may be an individual or composed by a group of people having the same interests. It is the lobbyist’s goal to have made a political judgment be inclined to his benefits, thus actions which may trigger the conformity of a government official towards his desires may be made.
On the other hand, bribery is the act of offering property, money or anything which is of great value in exchange of a political action or influence. This action is made to make one’s political decision be in favor of an individual’s personal interests. This is one reason why lobbyists are sometimes accused with bribery.
Though both seem to be the same by all means, a fine line separates the two for a lobby may be considered legal while bribery is not. Some of the lobbyists, as they aggressively push there demands, make their actions as unfairly as possible to the extent that they have to use their monetary capabilities. These actions could already be considered bribery which is morally unacceptable.
Though bribery is common in our society today, still it is hard to accuse someone from doing such. Bribery is a form of corruption and should be tolerated. What we can do to lessen or to avoid it from becoming a predominant political act is to stop giving bribes because when the politicians get used to it, it would really be hard to eliminate.
In brief:
- Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence a certain political conformity towards an individual’s interests.
- Bribery is the act of offering property, or money in exchange of a political decision favorable to one’s personal interests.
- Lobby is legal while bribery is illegal.