The good-faith defense for lobbying is that it is transparent and would still occur even if illegal, albeit with more capacity for subverting democratic institu

The good-faith defense for lobbying is that it is transparent and would still occur even if illegal, albeit with more capacity for subverting democratic institutions. A slightly more cynical take is that it is a compromise made by a divided political playing field. The thinking is that a lack of accountability is convertible to power. Same thing goes for the new AML directives in Europe that concern disclosing political status to a financial institution upon account opening.