LOBBYISTS AND THE LEGISLATURE.

• Author: Snell, Ron
• Position: The Third House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States - Review

Ron Snell

The Third House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States, 2nd edition, by Alan Rosenthal, CQ Press, Washington, D.C., 2001. 272 pages, softcover, $24.95.

Lobbying is integral to the state legislative process, one of the ways American politics expresses factionalism or interest-group politics. James Madison (who wrote about interest-group politics in The Federalist Papers in 1787-1788) and Alan Rosenthal (who writes about it here) agree that factionalism is a human characteristic, "sown in the nature of man," according to Madison.

If it's the Third House, lobbying is the one hidden in the shadows. This book sheds much light. Partly it's a textbook: How do you become a lobbyist (and where do they come from anyway)? What do they actually do? Who pays them (and how much do they get paid)? Why are there so many of them? How do they convince legislators to agree with them? And the big question: Are they really as powerful as political watchdogs and the media (not to mention lobbyists them- selves) claim they are? Rosenthal can answer these and a lot of other questions about the how, what and why of lobbyists.

He makes three major points that run contrary to popular wisdom. Lobbyists are an essential part of the legislative decision making process; they use money to acquire access to legislators, not to try to influence decisions directly; and they help to make the pluralistic American political process work effectively.

Lobbyists provide information to legislators on many subjects they never expected to have to make decisions on. Rosenthal cites the 35-state campaign between Hertz and Avis on one side and Alamo and smaller car rental companies on the other-a war...