Lobbying in the United Kingdom
Formal procedures enable individual members of the public to lobby their Member of Parliament but most lobbying activity centres on corporate, charity and trade association lobbying, where organisations seek to amend government policy through advocacy. Companies and individuals who operate in this sector commonly use the terms "public relations", "public affairs", "political consultancy" or "corporate affairs" to describe their activities (though this was also a reaction to the negative publicity surrounding the word "lobbyists" following the 1994 Cash-for-questions affair). Professional public affairs agencies, representing multiple clients, undertake a significant proportion of lobbying activity in addition to individual organisations conducting lobbying on an in-house basis.
Betsy Plank
Plank is responsible for contributing to the credibility of and respect for the field of public relations and public relations education, stating that "the hallmark of every respected profession is a formal program of study." Plank expressed that the future of public relations depends on education and research. She emphasized the importance of interpersonal communication: "Communications technology is a magical, wonderful tool, but simply a tool. It will never replace the human encounter." Plank also called for increased credibility, ethics and transparency in the practice of public relations. During her speech for the Alexander Hamilton award in 2000, Plank stated, "Public relations is fundamental to a democratic society where people make decisions in the workplace, the marketplace, the community and in the voting booth. Its primary mission is to forge responsible relationships of understanding, trust and respect among groups and individuals – even though they often disagree."