Zephyr Teachout, a Duke Law professor, has an interesting article on lobbying reform in Democracy, A Journal of Ideas (free registration required) titled A Restructuring of Power and Information. Teachout asserts; "If we do not radically change the role of the lobbying industry in decision-making, laws will increasingly tend towards complex mechanisms that redistribute power away from the people and toward the clients of the most effective lobbyists." The article addresses how the Founders, and the Constitution could provide some understanding into the issue and possibly suggest a new structure. While, as Hillary Clinton famously said, "A lot of these lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans," the overwhelming trend is towards more money spent by companies and trade associations and less by civic organizations, unions, and citizen groups. Of the top 20 spenders from 1998 to 2008, only one, the AARP, represents a citizen-membership organization. The more one drills down into particular issue areas, the more apparent the disjuncture between the amount spent by corporate interests (which are required to maximize the bottom line) and the amount spent by civic groups and non-profits. A foundation of lobbying is the premise that every citizen can petition the government. "If the goal is a marketplace of ideas or truth forged through advocacy, there are many ways to better achieve these visions of competing, creative agendas than the current institution of lobbying. For example, Congress could hire, at a fraction of the expense paid to lobbyists, advocates to represent a range of opinions on any proposed legislation, and stage trial-like debates between them. It could create an office of public lobbyists who, like public defenders, are responsible for representing any group of people who feel their viewpoints are not being represented in Congress. It could then create protocols to ensure that public lobbyists get equal access to members." "And like the Framers, we should recognize that democratic power is ultimately about maximizing the voice of the individual, and that our current system works at cross purposes to that goal."