What to Do About "Machers"

Earlier this month, a bill came before the Israeli legislature, the Knesset, called the Machers Bill. Its goal is to expand the Knesset's lobbying law to the executive branch as well as to municipalities, something that is rare in American states.

But what is a "macher"? It's a Yiddish term that, in the U.S., is most frequently used with respect to people in the Jewish community who always have their fingers in everything that's going on. They make (machen) things happen. According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, the title of this particular bill comes from the judge who recently convicted a former Israeli prime minister of bribery. This case involved what the Jewish Forward, an American weekly, called "a shadowy figure ... who has been referred to repeatedly by the Israeli media as the macher who coordinated everyone."

Here's what the judge said:

“Use of mediators – machers, as they’re commonly known – to promote interests in public offices is a common phenomenon in Israeli public service. Machers can arrange and smooth matters and bureaucratic processes… This is a fast, comfortable route that is not open to innocent, regular citizens who take the normal path… This is an inappropriate and corrupt phenomenon. This situation deteriorates citizens’ trust in public services and government institutions. Lawmakers should make the limits of what is permissible and forbidden clear even in areas of legitimate lobbying.”

The problem is that many machers of this sort — what are known in English as "fixers" or "power brokers" — aren't required to register as lobbyists, because although they seek to influence, they don't get directly paid for it. Their role is to make things happen, but they operate relatively independently. They may not represent anyone, or they may only officially work for a political party. They may get paid for giving advice (often about strategy) rather than influencing. They may set up meetings without attending them. They may not perpretrate, but instead organize and be complicit.

One big-time fixer in the Jersey Sting told an FBI informant, "You don't need to know how I do something. All you need to know is whether it got done." When it comes to government, the public needs to know who and how things are getting done. This is public information.

It's difficult to include machers in government ethics programs, because they don't fit the usual definitions of "lobbyist" or "consultant." One way is for ethics commissions to ask them to participate, to file disclosures and register as lobbyists, even if they are not required to. The worst they can do is say No. And if one or more of them say Yes, the pressure is on the others to follow suit.

Imagine an ethics training session tailored to machers. Or even better, one run by a macher! Perhaps every ethics commission could itself be trained by a macher. If local ones are unwilling to spill the beans, an outsider could be invited in. There are lots of possibilities that are not being tried. But where the state has a good lobbying code, the first step should be to try to get it tailored, as in the Macher Bill, to the local and regional levels, so that those lobbying cities, counties, school districts, water districts, transit districts, and the like could be regulated and required to disclose their lobbying activities in a clear, consistent manner.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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