"Bootleggers and Baptists" is a theory purporting to explain the political support for prohibitions on things like alcohol, drugs, prostitution, and gambling. It proposes that there is an implicit coalition of "Baptists" (concerned citizens) and "Bootleggers" (criminals who stand to benefit by illegally providing the banned goods or services).
It's easy to see that the "Baptists" have actively petitioned the government for bans on these activities. They have had many supporters, and they have often been successful My question is whether there evidence that "Bootleggers" have influenced the government to make or keep these activities illegal. Why would politicians listen to the tiny minority of people who stand to benefit financially by making these activities illegal? Are there instances of criminals using methods like bribery or threats to convince politicians to ban these things?
Edit: I am specifically asking about lobbying by criminals who cannot be seen to openly influence politicians. I know that other small groups, like professional associations, can influence politicians.
The term "bootleggers and Baptists" was coined by economist Bruce Yandle to answer the question, if regulations have to appeal to special interest groups, then how can you predict which special interest groups will succeed in having their interests favored? There was a large discussion in the field over the problem that "it was not enough to predict that an interest group would capture a regulator or politician. There are many interest groups and all of them seek to capture." Yandle was simply using the terms "bootleggers and Baptists" as a colorful and catchy illustration for how special interest groups can work together on accident even when the groups are very different in their motives and values.
Yandle wasn't really trying to argue that bootleggers were the primary driving force behind prohibition, and he wasn't trying to say that politicians are always influenced by secretive for-profit interest groups who hide in the shadows behind the public special-interest groups.
So if someone told you that's what it meant, then they severely misinterpreted Yandle's intentions.
Sources:
Bruce Yandle, "Bootleggers and Baptists-The Education of a Regulatory Economist."
http://pirate.shu.edu/~rotthoku/Liberty/On%20Bootleggers%20&%20Baptists.pdf
Bruce Yandle, "Bootleggers and Baptists in Retrospect."
https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/1999/10/bootleggers.pdf