by James M. DeMarco

About the author: James M. DeMarco, a graduate of Notre Dame Law School, is an attorney in Evanston, Illinois.

Much has been written concerning the expanding role of the federal government in American political history. With the Industrial Revolution, the expansion of interstate commerce and rail transportation, and the need to counter post-reconstruction backlash in southern states, the federal government found its law-providing role expand. Administrative agencies performed much of this new federal work, and the role the federal government had in the economy gradually shifted from that of enabler to that of manager.

Growth of Lobbying Groups

With the rise of federal managerial control, groups evolved to represent the industrial interests affected (i.e., chambers of commerce, labor unions, etc.). By the 1950s, organized industrial interests found themselves lobbying regularly in...