「遊說」的英文是什麼？「關說」又該怎麼說？

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由於美國近日不斷傳出槍擊攻擊事件，擁槍政見被攤在聚光燈下。

而支持擁槍的「全美步槍協會」NRA和它的政治遊說行為也再次面對大眾的質疑。

那在美國，遊說是合法的嗎?

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📌In politics, lobbying is the lawful act of attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials who are often legislators or members of regulatory agencies.

在政治上，遊說是合法地試圖影響政府官員的行動、政策或決定之行為，這些官員通常是立法者或監管機關的成員。

Lobbying usually involves direct, face-to-face contact and is done by many types of people and organized groups. These lobby groups include individuals in the private sector, often representing corporations. They can also consist of government officials or advocacy groups.

遊說通常涉及直接、面對面的接觸，由多種類型的人和有組織的團體進行。這些遊說團體包括私營部門的個體，通常代表公司。他們也可以由政府官員或倡議團體組成。  

Professional lobbyists are people who make a living by trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them. However, individuals and nonprofit organizations can also lobby as an act of volunteering or as a small part of their normal job. Lobbying does not necessarily yield financial benefits for lobbyists.

專業遊說者是指藉由代表僱用他們的團體或個人來影響立法、法規或其他政府決策、行動或政策謀生的人。但是，個人和非營利組織也可以將游說作為志願行為或作為其正常工作的一小部分。遊說不一定會為說客帶來經濟利益。  

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📌Lobbying is often misinterpreted as bribery, which it is not. Bribery involves the payment of something—either money or goods or an intangible favor—in the subversion of normal practices. On the other hand, lobbying is just an effort to influence it, though the distinction between the two is not so easily discernible. In the U.S., lobbying is legal, while bribery is not. The legality of lobbying stems from the Constitution and from our participatory democracy. That is, for the US government to succeed and protect the rights of its citizens the citizens must participate in making their voices heard. Lobbying is one way for citizens to influence government decisions and actions.

遊說經常被誤解為賄賂，但事實並非如此。賄賂涉及支付某些東西——金錢或貨物或無形的恩惠——以顛覆正常做法。另一方面，遊說只是一種影響它的行為，儘管兩者之間的區別往往不是那麼容易釐清。在美國，遊說是合法的，而賄賂不是。遊說的合法性源於美國憲法和參與式民主。也就是說，為了讓美國政府成功並保護其公民的權利，公民必須參與表達他們的聲音。遊說是公民影響政府決策和行動的一種方式。

Nevertheless, lobbying is sometimes viewed in contempt, when the implication is that people with disproportionate socioeconomic power are using it as a tool to influence the law in order to serve their own interests. There is also a conflict of interests when elected officials serve only the interests of special groups rather than all of their constituents.

然而，遊說有時會被藐視，因為此行為意味著擁有不成比例的社會經濟權力的人正在利用遊說作為影響法律的工具，以服務於自己的利益。當民選官員只為特殊群體的利益而不是為他們的所有選民服務時，也會存在利益衝突。

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📌Lobbying is also often confused with influence peddling, which is the act of promising or giving a benefit or a payment to a person who has a real or potential influence on the decision-making of a public official. Influence peddling can be considered a form of bribery. Influence peddling typically occurs when the decision-making process is opaque, unethical behavior is widespread, and the political system acts in favor of select interests.

遊說還經常與關說混淆，後者是向對公職人員的決策具有實際或潛在影響的人承諾或給予利益或付款的行為。影響力操弄可以被視為一種賄賂形式。關說通常發生在決策過程不透明、不道德行為普遍存在且政治體係有利於特定利益的情況下。

In order to prevent the traffic of influence, public and private establishments must increase the transparency of the decision-making process. Both the public and private sectors should have clear policies on how to prevent and avoid influence peddling. Citizens and the media must monitor them with due diligence.

為了防止影響力的傳播，公共和私人機構必須提高決策過程的透明度。公共和私營部門都應制定明確的政策，以防止和避免影響力操弄，公民和媒體必須盡職監督他們。

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關鍵詞彙：
•lobbying 遊說
•influence peddling 影響力操弄；權力叫賣
•special interest groups 特殊利益團體
•a conflict of interest 利益衝突；利害衝突
•the private sector 私營部門
•the public sector 公共部門
•advocacy groups 倡議團體
•lobbyists 遊說者；說客
•constituency 選區；選區內的選民；支持者
•constituent （某選區的）選民；選舉人
•shape the law 影響立法
•serve the interests 為利益服務
•a bloc of voters 投票者陣營
•electoral district 選區