The Interest Group Connection

With Congress more partisan than ever, the White House eager to mobilize group support, the appropriations process in flux, and important interest group litigation in the courts, this volume confirms that navigating the complex world of inside-the-beltway politics is especially tricky. For interest groups, the name of the game is access. The Interest Group Connection’s twenty chapters show how organized interests gain that access in Washington. Brief and accessible readings explore the connections between lobbyists’ influence and American policymaking institutions and processes, as well as the crucial role interest groups play in organizing constituencies, protecting their rights, and giving them entrée into the political process. Given the current environment―new campaign finance laws, the prevalence of "527" committees, and a near-even electoral environment―the second edition provides an inside look at a changed political world.

Paul S. Herrnson is director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington, 4th ed. (2004) and Party Campaigning in the 1980s (1988) and coauthor of The Financiers of Congressional Elections (2003). He is coeditor of several volumes, including War Stories from Capitol Hill (2003), Responsible Partisanship? The Evolution of American Political Parties Since 1950 (2003), Multiparty Politics in America, 2nd ed. (2002), and Playing Hardball: Campaigning for the U.S. Congress (2000). He has served as an American Political Science Association congressional fellow and has received several teaching awards, including an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Maryland.

Ronald G. Shaiko is visiting associate professor in the department of government at Dartmouth College. He is the author of Voices and Echoes for the Environment: Public Interest Representation in the 1990s and Beyond (1999). In addition, Shaiko has published widely in the areas of interest groups and lobbying, Congress, and nonprofit organizations.

Clyde Wilcox is a professor of government at Georgetown University. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Serious Money: Fundraising and Contributing in Presidential Nomination Campaigns (1995), Onward Christian Soldiers: The Christian Right in American Politics (1996), and Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering (1999). His edited books include Women in Elected Office: Past, Present, and Future (1998), The Politics of Gay Rights (2000), and Understanding Public Opinion, 2nd ed. (2002).