The Population Ecology of Interest Representation: Lobbying Communities in the American States

This examination of lobbying communities explores how interest group populations are constructed and how they influence politics and public policy. By examining how populations of interest groups are comprised, this work fills an important gap between existing theories of the origins of individual interest groups and studies of interest group influence. The population ecology model of interest communities developed here builds on insights first developed in population biology and later employed by organizational ecologists. The model's central premise is that it is the environmental forces confronting interest organizations that most directly shape the contours of interest populations. After examining the demography of interest organizations in the fifty American states, the population ecology model is used to account for variations in the density and diversity of their interest communities, the nature of competition among similar interest organizations to establish viable niches, and the impact of alternative configurations of interest communities on the legislative process and the policies it produces. These empirical findings suggest that the environment of interest communities is highly constraining, limiting their size, composition, and potential impact on politics. Virginia Gray is Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota. David Lowery is Burton Craige Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Politics & Social Sciences

Gray, Virginia

Lowery,David

Social Sciences

Univ of Michigan Pr

This examination of lobbying communities explores how interest group populations are constructed and how they influence politics and public policy. By examining how populations of interest groups are comprised, this work fills an important gap between existing theories of the origins of individual interest groups and studies of interest group influence. The population ecology model of interest communities developed here builds on insights first developed in population biology and later employed by organizational ecologists. The model's central premise is that it is the environmental forces confronting interest organizations that most directly shape the contours of interest populations.After examining the demography of interest organizations in the fifty American states, the population ecology model is used to account for variations in the density and diversity of their interest communities, the nature of competition among similar interest organizations to establish viable niches, and the impact of alternative configurations of interest communities on the legislative process and the policies it produces. These empirical findings suggest that the environment of interest communities is highly constraining, limiting their size, composition, and potential impact on politics.Virginia Gray is Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota. David Lowery is Burton Craige Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

University of Michigan Press

This text helps students understand American public affairs by exploring the role that subnational governments play today in shaping the political life of the nation. Using the concepts of exit, voice, and loyalty, it explores the political and policy implications of the migration of people and businesses from region to region, city to suburb, and state to state.

American States and Cities (2nd Edition)

Eisinger, Peter

Politics & Government

Pearson

Armed with an eighth-grade education and a centuries-old set of traditional values, 15-yr-old Mei Zi leaves her impoverished farming village in search of a better life. When an elusive businessman lures her a thousand miles from home, she quickly discovers dazzling Shanghai has its own brand of desperation. Penniless and on the brink of starvation, a stranger's single act of kindness sets Mei Zi on an extraordinary path that will lead her across the world.

Spa Girl

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Virginia Gray Novels

The Write Tool to Teach Algebra

Science & Math

Mathematics

Key Curriculum

Universal health care was on the national political agenda for nearly a hundred years until a comprehensive (but not universal) health care reform bill supported by President Obama passed in 2010. The most common explanation for the failure of past reform efforts is that special interests were continually able to block reform by lobbying lawmakers. Yet, beginning in the 1970s, accelerating with the failure of the Clinton health care plan, and continuing through the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, health policy reform was alive and well at the state level. Interest Groups and Health Care Reform across the United States assesses the impact of interest groups to determine if collectively they are capable of shaping policy in their own interests or whether they influence policy only at the margins. What can this tell us about the true power of interest groups in this policy arena? The fact that state governments took action in health policy in spite of opposing interests, where the national government could not, offers a compelling puzzle that will be of special interest to scholars and students of public policy, health policy, and state politics.

Interest Groups and Health Care Reform across the United States (American Government and Public Policy)

Medical Books

Administration & Medicine Economics

Georgetown University Press

Mud, Space and Spirit: Handmade Adobes

"And when the last Americano in the fullness of time follows the last Spaniard and the last red man into the shadows, this will still be the same poignantly unforgettable land of beauty, its arid mesas, canyons, and deserts lying perpetually beneath an ocean of pure light, and its Sky Gods still pouring frugally from their ollas, their violet-soft rain." -Ross Calvin, "Sky Determines""These houses and the people who inhabit them are scattered through 5000 square miles of solitude in the Southwest's high desert. Most of them don't know each other and are meeting for the first time in this book. I see them together as a vanguard consciousness, loners in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a jeep road, or dug into a hill. Only the sun can find them. Their houses are self-portraits, ranging from rudimentary to sophisticated. Any resemblances come more from the prevailing powers of mud, space and spirit than from an exchange of personal inspiration." -Noel Young, from the foreword

Arts & Photography

MacRae, Alan

Photography & Video

Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

This is a large format adaptation of three Greek myths: "The Monster in the Maize" (The Minotaur);" The Golden Touch" (Midas) and "Jason and the Golden Fleece" for younger readers. Intended for shared reading or for children with special needs, there is also a teacher's resource book.

Traditional Tales from Ancient Greece (Big Books) (Traditional Tales)

Parker, Vic

Chrysalis Books

A collection of myths relating the exploits and adventures of the gods and heroes of ancient Greece.

Traditional Tales from Ancient Greece (Traditional Tales from Around the World)

Parker, Victoria

Ardagh, Philip

Children's Books

Thameside Pr

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