Revolving Door in US Lobbying

Revolving Door Lobbyists† By Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Mirko Draca, and Christian Fons-Rosen*

Lobbying is widely regarded as an important component of the US political system and has received

considerable attention among scholars of political institutions and policy outcomes (Grossman and Helpman

2001; Ansolabehere, de Figueiredo, and Snyder 2003; Baumgartner et al. 2009).

One important characteristic of the US lobbying industry is the extent to which it is

dominated by the “revolving door” phenomenon—i.e., the movement of federal public

employees into the lobbying industry. For example, 56 percent of the revenue generated

by private lobbying firms between 1998 and 2008 can be attributed to individuals with some type of