Lobbying is not a well-known activity. When individuals are confronted with lobbying they usually have a bad perception of what it is about. The critics can be so harsh that sometimes lobbyists wish they has stayed in the shadow. Lobbying has a very bad reputation and the concept is frequently associated with words such as manipulation, corruption, bribery and so on. The rare occasions the public hears about lobbying is in the media and reports are usually negative.

L'une des priorités de AALEP vise à favoriser des perceptions plus précises et mieux éclairées sur la valeur et le rôle de la représentation d'intérêts au regard des politiques publiques auprès des différentes organisations que nous servons. Le moyen que nous avons retenu pour y parvenir, c'est au travers d'une campagne professionnelle dans ce domaine sous l'intitulé : "Le Business Case pour la Représentation d'Intérêts au regard des politiques publiques™".

An important part of our mission at AALEP is to foster more accurate and better-informed perceptions of the value and role of public policy advocacy in the diverse organizations it serves. One way we are approaching this is through a professional advocacy campaign: "The Business Case for Public Policy Advocacy ™"

The goal is to drive professional recognition and growth by helping practitioners in the field educate key audiences about public policy advocacy's roles and outcomes, demonstrate its strategic value and enhance its reputation.

OpenSecrets.org, a U.S. research group has compiled data about the top U.S.  lobbying firm's revenues. Here below are the results for 2012 converted into Euros.

François Hollande ne comprend pas la mentalité allemande. C’est pourquoi il est attaqué par plusieurs partis allemands choqués par sa critique inappropriée à l’encontre de la Commission européenne. La façon de penser allemande est guidée par trois principes fondamentaux :

1. Chacun doit respecter ses engagements
2. Chacun doit mettre ses budgets en ordre
3. Chacun doit être économiquement compétitif

Pour les Allemands

At the outset it should be pointed out that law firms have two ways to operate in the public policy advocacy sector. Some have chosen to integrate their government relations services into their law practice, while others have established subsidiaries that operate in the government affairs space. The reasons law firms set up subsidiaries was due to the growing importance of government activity that created potential conflicts with their existing clients. Subsidiaries were formed so that law firms didn’t have to run the traditional conflicts check.

New technologies are being developed and updated continuously and in themselves pose challenges for public policy advocates in terms of keeping abreast of not only what is available but also of what is being planned for release in the future. Conventional techniques of public policy advocacy are being undermined by the mobile nature of new media and this requires public policy advocates to rethink how they relate to publics (in the broader sense). New media technologies are having a revolutionary impact in the field and practice of public policy advocacy.

The Internet has radically altered the lobbying arsenal. This was brought home with a vengeance in 2011 and 2012 in the United States by the failure of traditional lobbying strategies to win approval of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA). In early 2011, by all normal standards, the odds were with passage of SOPA. The legislation had the backing of some of the most powerful companies and associations in Washington D.C. In addition, the measure had strong bipartisan support.

Lobbying that respects the values and purposes of government institutions, lobbying that adheres to high ethical standards and that advances rather than undermines educated and ethical decision-making by legislators is the kind of lobbying that advances public good rather than lobbying calculated to exploit the principle of reciprocity. There are various aspects of the reciprocity rule: For example, a person can trigger a feeling of indebtedness by doing us an uninvited favor. Further a small initial favor can produce a sense of obligation to a substantially larger return favor.

Many Washington lobbyists are lawyers, and many are not. Until recently, lobbyists who are lawyers, and nonlawyer lobbyists employed by lobbyists, have not had a clear answer to whether the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct apply to their work. They had been left to wonder: "If one doesn't need to be a lawyer in order to be a lobbyist, can lobbying constitute the "practice of law" ? And if not, apart from such basic obligations as complying with lobbying laws and avoid deceptive conduct, do legal ethics rules have any bearing on what they do?"