>It’s fundamental to running society where groups want representation.

Groups which don't have a lot of people in them, but do have a lot of money, and can't find anyone willing to voluntarily advocate for them.

Bribery ought to be illegal, but in practice it's legal - e.g. corporate donations.

Using saved up money to execute your agenda is a fundamental feature of civilized society. Before money, basic transactions had to have goods exchanged on the spot. Money is a simple debt agreement that has been written in a commoditized form so that the creditor can easily trade it at their convenience, with other parties who can delay their dues for longer. It is just commoditized social obligation. Some people have a lot of it, because in their or their ancestors past, they racked up a lot of social obligation. It’s still just people who are due favors, calling them in.

No, lobbying becomes bribery when money or favors exchanges hands.

If money actually goes to the candidate instead of the campaign to re-elect the candidate, it is literally bribery and is illegal.

> If money actually goes to the candidate instead of the campaign to re-elect the candidate, it is literally bribery and is illegal.

True. Also if the money enriches the candidate thru means other than cash-in-hand, the bribery may be legal and is just as unethical.

Another term for lobbying is democracy. We don't need lobbyist to have democracy. So there existence must serve some purpose other then democratic action.

Petitioning your elected officials is fine in most people's eyes. I think a lot of people may have an issue when money is equated to petitioning through various mechanisms. It's exacerbated in a society with economic systems that tend to amplify wealth inequality, leading to political inequality.

Counterpoint: savvy populist candidates can get traction without spending nearly as much money as their well-lobbied counterparts.

A widely-held stance is that lobbying needs to be a lot more illegal than it is, but the people who have the power to make it illegal are also the people who benefit from it. Nevertheless many of us random people who don't work in government would love to see this stuff made illegal.