Collective Action: Most of the kinds of goods, services, policies, and goals we care about socially, economically, and politically require that people work together to produce, provide, implement, or achieve them. The problem of collective action is the problem of organizing collective efforts in pursuit of jointly desired ends. Market mechanisms are an important type of collective action providing us with a great many of the things we value. But markets cannot provide everything we collectively value, particularly things best characterized as public goods, like clean air or democratic government. These require different approaches to organizing collective action than market mechanisms alone provide.
Contract Lobbyists: Temporary employees of a group hired specifically to present a group’s concerns and proposals to legislators, bureaucrats, and other government officials during a legislative session or for a contractually arranged period of time. Typically, these are individuals with a background in government and a network of governmental connections which they can market to private groups willing to pay for help with getting their concerns and proposals heard by key government decision makers.
Direct Lobbying: Trying to influence decision makers by traditional and direct means including personal contact and mail or phone calls to push a particular policy position or even more specifically, to push for a supportive vote on a legislative motion or regulatory action. Interest groups may engage in direct lobbying by mobilizing their members to contact policy makers, or by hiring a contract lobbyist or having in-house lobbyists to undertake the action.
American Politics: A Gov 310 Resource