Lobbying As A Psychological Bribe

Yglesias reviews Lawrence Lessig's new book, Republic, Lost:

Socially and psychologically, human beings do favors for people who have done favors for them. Lobbyists, bund-lers, and campaign contributors don’t need to bribe anyone to exert influence. They just need to give. By the same token (although what is at stake is often hardly a token), it would be illegal and gauche, not to mention unnecessary, for members of Congress to bargain votes explicitly for post-congressional rewards such as trade-association presidencies. Without anyone necessarily being bribed, Lessig argues, a dangerous and unseemly economy of influence has arisen in Washington that renders legislators dependent on lobbyists and all too independent from their constituents or the national interest.