Organized Interests and American Government

Writing for an undergraduate audience, Lowery and Brasher take a comprehensive look at the world of interest groups: how they come to exist and how they influence a full range of government policymakers. They fully integrate and organize their text around the three-sided debate between the pluralist perspective, transactions perspective, and neopluralist perspective, as well as a student's direct relationship to public policies through our three branches of government. Features include: 1) Complete coverage of interest organizations from all levels of government: local, state, and national; 2) a concise length, assuring that it can be used with any American Government text; and 3) Questions about Your Interest Organization and Interest Group Examples boxes, bolded key terms and concepts, chapter discussion questions, chapter summaries, and a comprehensive index. Table of Contents: 1. Representing Interests An Argument What We Argue About / The Players and Their Evidence / The Argument in Perspective 2. Organization Mobilization and Maintenance The Mobilization of Interest Organizations / Maintaining Interest Organizations 3. Interest Organization Communities Interest Community Density / Interest Community Diversity 4. Organized Interests and the Public Influencing Choice Context / Influencing Choice Content / Influencing Citizens' Choices 5. Organized Interests and the Legislature Influence and the Stages of Legislation / Means of Influencing the Legislature / Strategic Choice 6. Organized Interests and the Executive Branch Organized Interests and Political Executives / Organized Interests and the Bureaucracy / Means of Influencing the Bureaucracy 7. Organized Interests and the Judiciary The Special Nature of Courts / Influencing the Courts / The Use of Judicial Lobbying 8. Consequences and Reforms Political and Policy Consequences / Proposed Reforms