In "Outside Lobbying," Ken Kollman explores why and when
interest group leaders in Washington seek to mobilize the public in
order to influence policy decisions in Congress. In the past,
political scientists have argued that lobbying groups make outside
appeals primarily because of their own internal dynamics--to
recruit new members, for example. Kollman, however, grants a more
important role to the need for interest group leaders to
demonstrate popular support on particular issues. He interviewed
more than ninety interest group leaders and policy makers active on
issues ranging from NAFTA to housing for the poor. While he
concludes that group leaders most often appeal to the public when
they perceive that their stand has widespread popular support, he
also shows that there are many important and revealing exceptions
to this pattern.
Kollman develops his theory of outside lobbying through a
combination of rational choice modeling and statistical tests that
compare public opinion data with data from his interviews about
interest groups' policy positions and activities. The tests reveal
that group leaders use outside lobbying to take advantage of
pre-existing public preferences, not to recruit members or to try
to generate the mere appearance of grass-roots support. Kollman's
innovative book will clarify the complex relationship among
lobbying, public opinion, and public policy, and will set a new
standard for interest group research.
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