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The Evolution of Firm Lobbying in American Politics: Testing Theories of Lobby Activity and Centrality (1999–2018)

Marcel Hanegraaff et al.

British Journal of Political Science2026https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123426101409article
ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This research note investigates how the involvement of firms in American politics has developed over the past two decades. The central question is whether individual firms have become more active lobbyists compared to business associations in the US Congress over this period. Different subdisciplines in political science have various expectations regarding the evolution of firm lobbying. We test which perspective is most accurate. To evaluate the hypotheses, we use a novel dataset comprising approximately 180,000 instances of lobbying activity by different types of interest organizations across a wide range of sectors and issues. In our analyses, we trace both the relative activity of firms versus business associations and their centrality in lobbying networks. While most theoretical models in the literature suggest a rise of firm lobbying activity, our results highlight a strikingly stable pattern of firm lobbying activity and centrality within the US political system over the past two decades.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123426101409

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@article{marcel2026,
  title        = {{The Evolution of Firm Lobbying in American Politics: Testing Theories of Lobby Activity and Centrality (1999–2018)}},
  author       = {Marcel Hanegraaff et al.},
  journal      = {British Journal of Political Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123426101409},
}

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The Evolution of Firm Lobbying in American Politics: Testing Theories of Lobby Activity and Centrality (1999–2018)

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.