Lobbying for the People: The Political Behavior of Public Interest Groups

By Jeffrey M. Berry

Introduction

In the book “Lobbying for the People,” Berry highlights the modern development of the interest groups, the interests' effect on the political parties, organization and mobilization, lobbying, opinions about lobbying, federal institutes of lobbying and the political behavior of the interest group regarding the lobbying.

About the Author

Jeffrey M. Berry is the John Richard Skuse Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. He received his A.B. from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University.

Berry's research has focused on interest groups, citizen advocacy, urban politics, and nonprofits. The central theme that runs through his scholarship is a concern with how ordinary citizens get their collective voice heard by those in government. His books include Lobbying for the People, The Rebirth of Urban Democracy, The New Liberalism, A Voice for Nonprofits, and Lobbying and Policy Change. Among his awards are the Gladys Kammerer Award and the Urban Politics section's best book award for The Rebirth of Urban Democracy, the Policy Studies Organization's Aaron Wildavsky Award for The New Liberalism, and the Political Organizations and Parties section's Leon Epstein Prize for A Voice for Nonprofits as well as its Samuel Eldersveld Career Achievement Award (Berry, pp. 29).

Berry's current research involves a study of environmental advocacy and sustainability in 50 large American cities (with Kent Portney), and a study of the "Outrage Industry" (talk radio, cable TV, blogs, and ideological citizen groups, with Sarah Sobieraj). His service to APSA includes membership on the on the Professional Ethics and Academic Freedom Committee, and on the Civic Education and Engagement Committee (which wrote Democracy at Risk). He also served as President of the Political Organizations and Parties section (Berry, pp. 29).

Book Review

In the book “Lobbying for the People,” ...