Government People Business Elected Gephardt Eslpod Working Officials

A "revolving door" is a round door divided into four "compartments" (sections) that slowly move in a circle, so that people can enter and exit a building without touching the door. In politics, a "revolving door" describes the way in which many elected politicians accept jobs in private business or lobbying "firms" (businesses; companies) and "vice versa" (the other way around, too).

Some laws "restrict" (place limits on) when government officials can accept certain types of jobs. For example, a law might state that a government official responsible for "selecting" (choosing) "contractors" (companies that perform work in exchange for payment) cannot work for that contractor for at least one year. However, these laws do not apply to everyone.

For example, Dick Gephardt, who served in the United States House of Representatives for the State of Missouri from 1977 to 2005, has benefited a lot from the revolving door. Immediately after leaving the House of Representatives, he created the Gephardt Group, which is a consulting and lobbying firm. The Gephardt Group has many large clients and has "brought in" (earned) millions of dollars. Gephardt has clearly benefited personally from the relationships he built as an elected representative.

Some people argue that the revolving door is "inappropriate" (not acceptable), because it encourages corruption. People and businesses begin to expect "reciprocal privileges." In other words, if a business does something to support an elected representative, that representative is expected to do something nice for the business in return.

At the same time, other people argue that it is "only natural" (normal; expected) for people in politics to have interests that "overlap with" (be similar to) private business, and it is not surprising that they would be is a good position to become lobbyists after they complete their government service.