A must-read for academics teaching "public diplomacy"

Forget creativity: Can lobbying be taught? - T.R. Goldman, Washington Post" [JB highlights]

"Now that the presidential and congressional elections are over, Washington’s quadrennial personnel shift begins, with hundreds of Hill staffers and political appointees from dozens of federal agencies preparing to descend on K Street, trying to convince prospective employers that they can either advance their agenda or stymie those of their opponents. For many, signing up for American University’s two-week series of lectures and seminars, enrolling in the master’s degree program at George Washington’s Graduate School of Political Management or taking the American League of Lobbyists’ Lobbying Certificate Program by attending 11 of 14 different monthly lectures — to name some of the most popular programs around town — might provide that competitive edge. Then again, it might get you no more than a very expensive piece of paper, one that costs $1,500 for a certificate of completion for American’s course and as much as $47,160 for the 36 credit-hours it takes to earn a full-blown master’s of political management at George Washington. It certainly won’t let you waltz into one of the city’s thousands of lobby shops with a guaranteed position — particularly not in today’s tight job market.

In short, you can go to school to learn about lobbying, but you don’t become a lobbyist by going to school.

...American [University]’s Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute — it used to be called the 'Lobbying Institute' until it was changed by a university dean who didn’t like the connotation, says Thurber — offers a full-time, two-week workshop whose speakers include some 30 lobbyists who talk about strategies and tactics used to influence public policy.

'One misconception about lobbying is that it’s simply hiring somebody who goes into Congress and talks to people to influence legislation. That’s a very narrow view,' says Thurber, adding that 'what we think lobbying is, and what we teach, is that it’s important to develop a clear strategy. These include everything from TV and print ads, social media, using survey research to evaluate how effective your lobbying campaign is to the public, developing grass roots and grass tops, coalition building, and knowing the law.'

Yet there is widespread agreement that perhaps the only sine qua non to becoming a successful lobbyist is a prior job on the Hill. 'It’s not just understanding the mechanics,' says House, 'it’s having a feel for how Congress operates and the mood of Congress, and the only way to get that is to have been part of the process.'

There is a type of personality common among the best lobbyists, 'a certain indefinable quality that makes certain people appealing,' says one top Senate aide who has been lobbied hundreds of times over the course of a two-decade career. Burdett Loomis, one of a handful of university professors who actually study lobbying, puts it this way: 'I do think you can teach a lot of this stuff,' he said from his office in the political science department of the University of Kansas, 'but obviously you can’t give someone a personality transplant.'