--- description: Lobbyists are constantly working behind the scenes to influence the political process, but how exactly does that work? title: This Is How Lobbying Really Works image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2750791f2bcf0179/6988a837524fc070fbdf9ad7/we-the-voters-lobbyists.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is How Lobbying Really Works ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. A new video breaks it down_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2016 4:25 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2016 4:25 PM CUT Lobbyists are constantly working behind the scenes to influence the [political](http://time.com/4419634/america-politics/ "undefined") process, but how exactly does that work? A new video from the digital short film series _We the Voters: 21 Films for the People_, breaks it down. Talking to Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, Curtis L. Ducker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, and Thomas Ponce, founder of Lobby for Animals, the clip highlights how [lobbyists](http://time.com/4425343/dnc-hillary-clinton-lobbyists-donations/ "undefined") are allowed to spend and influence on [the hill](http://time.com/4514717/congressional-reform/ "undefined"). Watch the full clip to see how it works. _We the Voters: 21 Films for the People_ describes itself as “a nonpartisan digital slate of 21 short films designed to inform, inspire and activate voters nationwide with fresh perspectives on the subjects of democracy, elections and governance in the lead up to the 2016 elections.” The series is produced by Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and the production company Show of Force in partnership with sales and distribution company FilmBuff. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/"},"headline":"This Is How Lobbying Really Works","datePublished":"2016-09-30T16:25:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:05.433Z","description":"A new video breaks it down","url":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2750791f2bcf0179/6988a837524fc070fbdf9ad7/we-the-voters-lobbyists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2750791f2bcf0179/6988a837524fc070fbdf9ad7/we-the-voters-lobbyists.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"we-the-voters-lobbyists","caption":"We the Voters","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/","name":"This Is How Lobbying Really Works"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"A new video breaks it down","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4514704/lobbying-how-it-works/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```