According to a study conducted by The Center for Responsible Politics, Georgetown churns out a significant number of graduates who become revolving door lobbyists. The list of 26 universities reveals that 187 Georgetown graduates registered as lobbyists in 2011 have worked for both the federal government and political lobbying or consulting firms. This is the highest number compared to any other university surveyed in the study.

The survey also shows four of five of the top universities are, predictably, in Washington D.C. Second after Georgetown is George Washington University, with 151 revolving door lobbyists. Following Harvard University is American University at 88, University of Virginia at 63, and Catholic University at 63. Proximity to the hub of lobbying activity plays a huge role in determining the number of alumni in that field of work.

The Center describes a revolving door lobbyist as “any person with previous or current government experience who also has held, or currently holds, a professional position in the private sector where they can reasonably be expected to influence, or be seeking to influence, public policy decisions.” The project’s intent, according to their stated methodology, is to identify the people who transition from the public to private sector and “to uncover how these people’s government connections afford them privileged access to those in power.” The Center asserts their survey does not intend to accuse these people of engaging in a conflict of interest.

In the section on lobbying in the SFS Career Development Services website, the concept of a revolving door is described as a method to increase a graduate’s marketability. “From a position as a research assistant, a person may become an analyst or manager within a lobbying organization or move to a position on the staff of an elected official or government agency,” the website reads.

Some prominent Georgetown alumni identified as revolving door lobbyists include Tony Podesta and Kenneth Kies. Both are graduates of GU’s Law Center. Podesta founded a lobbying and public affairs firm, Podesta Group, based in Washington D.C. Last year, the Podesta Group was identified as a primary lobbyist in Egypt, counseling Egyptian officials on U.S. policies and the U.S. political scene.

Kies, a tax lobbyist, is managing director of the Federal Policy Group, a lobbying firm. He also served on Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation and House Ways and Means Committee in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the Center for Responsible Politics.

The Center for Responsible Politics added a caveat that the data was not complete because education information was not available for all the members in the database. Interpret this as you will.

Photo: Flickr user Heather Lucas

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2012 at 9:32 pm and is filed under News, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.