The Secrets To Washington's Power Game.

• Author: BIRNBAUM, JEFFREY H

Lobbying for Washington policymakers is no longer just an inside game.

A favorite metaphor for the official happenings in Washington, D.C., is "inside the Beltway." This is usually a term of opprobrium. A lot of Americans think that nothing can go well or smoothly or fairly when it occurs "inside the Beltway." And they aren't entirely wrong. The U.S. system of government and politics is a Byzantine, insiders' game played, for the most part, in the District of Columbia and its suburbs, which are circumscribed by a highway numbered 495 and called The Beltway.

How does the Beltway game work? That's not an easy question. No one person can describe or conquer it, that's for sure. Washington is a city filled with control freaks, which, by design, nobody can control. The federal government's internal checks and balances, in which one branch of government can block the others, insure frustration at every turn. On top of that, the post-World War II Washington is so large and unwieldy that just keeping track of the place, let along trying to harness it, is nearly impossible. Foreign countries and non-U.S.-based corporations feel especially outside the loop.

Fortune magazine, my employer, has been trying to make sense of the mess for the last four years. We have conducted a poll of D.C. power players--members of Congress, White House staffers, professional lobbyists and the like--to find out what groups have the most clout in the capital and why. The results have been eye opening. Taken together, the results serve as a kind of primer on how--and how NOT--to deal with Washington. What follows is a synopsis of our ongoing study.

The most important conclusion is that the whole notion of "inside the Beltway" is misleading. The part of the country with the real juice is outside, not inside, the Beltway. Government action (or inaction) reflects more what actual voters want than is the common perception. Indeed, the best way to manipulate legislation is by mobilizing blocs of voters, not by, buying access to politicians with campaign contributions. This is truer now than ever thanks to low voter turnout. Smaller voter blocs make a bigger difference to elected officials because so few people go to the polls (barely half of those eligible in 2000).

When Fortune asked Washington's insiders what compelled lawmakers to vote for or against legislation, the answer was this: the views that voters communicated to their elected representatives. Campaign donations had...