Assignment task:
Personally, I think that lobbyists and think tanks are intended to provide a necessary action within a democracy. The ability for experienced, nuanced opinions coming from the public provides opportunities for publicly popular policies to be presented in front of those making the policies. The adage "four eyes are better than two" can be applied here but to a great extent depending on the number of those involved in promoting a certain policy idea and the experience that they have. While many see lobbying specifically as a negative thing within the government due to their economically gated limits to influencing public servants, the inherent idea of lobbying is not conceptually negative. Issues arise when businesses, corporations, or individuals who could gain money or power from certain policies utilize their funding and influence to 'encourage' policymakers to create policies that benefit them and their compatriots - it is a highly controversial and consequential result of capitalism influencing democracy. Those with more money can overwhelm competition and support policymakers in other ways (e.g. campaign donations). Limitations within the realm of lobbying would need to be 100% transparent, obvert, and supervised for a public opinion regarding lobbying to change - as there is a quite negative connotation with the concept (Moran 2022) (Hursch, Kang, Montagnes & You 2023).
Think tanks generally carry a softer reputation due to their euphemistic namesake, however, some think tanks do similar things as lobbyists. However, think tanks perform more research and advocacy towards a topic, attempting to rally the information itself as a methodology of influencing or encouraging policymakers (Chafuen 2016).
The question of the day seemingly blocks the two (lobbyists and think tanks) together, however, I think that lobbying in its current state tends to churn out biased, corporately indulgent policies compared to the defined research and advocacy of think tanks. While this opinion is not at all all-encompassing, and there are exceptions to both groups, the general connotation and stereotypes of the two groups exist for a reason. Reworking how both of them work and what they are allowed to do with regards to the influence of policymakers and the benefits the benefactors are receiving would be a great improvement on the loose, fast, rich system that happens now. Need Assignment Help?