The Best-Kept Secret: Women Corporate Lobbyists, Policy, and Power in the United States

From lobbyists such as Jack Abramoff, to corporate executives like Enron’s Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, recent scandals dealing with politics and government have focused only on men at the top. But do these high-profile men accurately represent the gendered makeup of corporate-government in the United States? In this first in-depth look at the changing face of corporate lobbying, Denise Benoit shows how women who have historically worked mostly in policy areas relating to
women’s issues
such as welfare, family, and health have become increasingly influential as corporate lobbyists, specializing in what used to be considered
masculine
policy, such as taxes and defense. Benoit finds that this new crop of female lobbyists mobilize both masculinity and femininity in ways that create and maintain trusting, open, and strong relations with those in government, and at the same time help corporations to save and earn billions of dollars.