Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies. By Ken Kollman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. 215p. $55.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Abstract

In an age when commercials bombard us with plain folk (from central casting) ruminating about the latest proposal in Congress and when "astroturf" more often refers to syn- thetically manufactured grassroots activity than to stadium playing fields, evidence that groups frequently "go public" is easy to come by. Nevertheless, these efforts to reach and use the public have received little systematic attention from political scientists. Ken Kollman aims to fill this substantial gap in interest group scholarship. Outside Lobbying is an impressive effort, one that should invigorate further inquiry into this important aspect of interest group advocacy.