Lobbying I'd argue is an essential part of democracy because it allows groups of people that have a shared concern to come together and make their case to the politicians.
> ... groups of people that have a shared concern to come together and make their case to the politicians.
That would be solved by referenda, with their results and number of people affected being presented to the politicians so that they must deal with the problem.
Lobbying as it is now in many countries (possibly all of them) has nothing to do with that and to me is just legalized corruption.
What do you imply? To me it doesn't matter if you use a different word for monetary value, be it donation or something else, it comes down to the same, namely money.
That would be solved by referenda, with their results and number of people affected being presented to the politicians so that they must deal with the problem. Lobbying as it is now in many countries (possibly all of them) has nothing to do with that and to me is just legalized corruption.