Interest Group Politics presents a broad spectrum of scholarship on interest groups past and present. In a time of partisan parity, when control of Congress is always within reach of the minority party at the next election, interest groups have every incentive to keep the pressure on. And they do. But the imbalance of influence that tilts toward moneyed interests is one of the cornerstones of the political system.

What does this mean for equal representation? In nineteen chapters, noted political scientists explore the role of money, technology, grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy advertising, and much more in interest group influence. Students will learn how the National Rifle Association has become one of the most effective lobbying groups in America, what opportunities the openness of the American political process has offered ethnic groups both within and outside the United States, how the role of interest groups in elections has changed (including 527’s), what effect religious organizations had in the 2004 elections, and how interest groups affect Supreme Court nominations.

1. Introduction: The Changing Nature of Interest Group Politics
Burdett A. Loomis and Allan J. Cigler

I. Group Organization

2. Targeting Success: The Power of the NRA
Kelly Patterson and Matthew Singer

3. The Politics of Tribal Recognition: Casinos, Culture, and Controversy
Mike Nelson

4. A More Level Playing Field or a New Mobilization of Bias? Interest Groups and Advocacy for the Disadvantaged
Dara Strolovitch

5. Big-Money Donors to Environmental Groups: What They Give and What They Get
Anthony Nownes and Allan J. Cigler

6. Interest Organization Communities: Their Assembly and Consequences
David Lowery and Virginia Gray

II. Groups in the Electoral Process

7. Getting the Spirit? Religious and Partisan Mobilization in the 2004 Elections
James Guth, Lyman Kellstadt, Corwin Smidt, and John Green

8. Interest Group Money in Elections
Marian Currinder, Joanne Connor Green, and M. Margaret Conway

9. 527s: The New Bad Guys of Campaign Finance
Diana Dwyre

III. Groups in the Policy Process

10. Nonprofits as Interest Groups: The Politics of Passivity
Jeff Berry

11. Is Corporate Lobbying Rational or Just a Waste of Money?
Erik K. Godwin, R. Kenneth Godwin, and Scott Ainsworth

12. Identity Crisis: How Interest Groups Struggle to Define Themselves in Washington
Michael T. Heaney

13. American Interests in the Balance? Do Ethnic Groups Dominate Foreign Policy Making?
Eric Uslaner

14. What Happened to the Japanese Lobby in Washington? The Decline of the Japan Lobby and the Rise of the New China Lobby
Ronald Hrebenar, Valerie Ploumpis, and Clive Thomas

15. Where Have All the Interest Groups Gone? An Analysis of Interest Group Participation in Presidential Nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States
Karen O’Connor, Alixandra B. Yanus, and Linda Mancillas Patterson

16. Emerging Issues, New Organizations: Interest Groups and the Making of Nanotechnology Policy
Christopher Bosso and Ruben Rodrigues

17. The Well-Informed Lobbyist: Information and Interest-Group Lobbying
Rogan Kersh

18. Does K Street Run Through Capitol Hill? Lobbying Congress in the Republican Era
Burdett A. Loomis

IV. Conclusion

19. Organized Interests, Political Parties, and Representation: James Madison, Tom DeLay, and the Soul of American Politics
Allan J. Cigler and Burdett A. Loomis

“This is a collection of insightful and timely research on interest groups. The new edition covers the full range of relevant topics and brings the issues to life for students. The chapters are theoretically driven and also introduce students to current research methods in the field without sacrificing ‘real world’ relevance. Interest Group Politics succeeds in engaging students without simplifying the political world. This book is an indispensable part of any course on interest groups.”

“As a faithful user of every edition of the Cigler and Loomis reader since its first edition for my Interest Group Politics class, I have come to expect a high standard of the articles included that provide an informative and helpful supplement to the course text. Over the years, I feel confident that my students have had the opportunity to read about the critical questions, research approaches, and analysis by scholars who are foremost in the study of the interest group literature. A quick browse through the table of contents of the seventh edition reinforces the confidence of having made the correct choice in using the previous editions and I look forward to incorporating many of the new chapters in the seventh edition when I next teach the class.”

“It is rare to find in one volume such a collection of leading scholarship that covers a wide range of contemporary issues pertaining to interest groups, while still engaging the student reader. I couldn’t teach elections and public policy without Interest Group Politics.”

“Interest Group Politics provides an excellent combination of scholarly research and relevant real-world examples from top scholars in the field. Students will find this book interesting and easy to follow as it helps illustrate major themes in interest group research: group organization, electoral participation, and lobbying. The organization and content make it an excellent teaching tool and essential to any class on organized interests.”

Allan J. Cigler is Chancellor's Club Teaching Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas. He received his doctorate from Indiana University. His research and writing focus on parties and interest groups, particularly on the relationship between the two mediating institutions.

Burdett A. Loomis is professor of political science at the University of Kansas. A former American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and recipient of a Kemper Teaching Award, he has written extensively on legislatures, political careers, interest groups, and policymaking.