Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA (Politics and Society in Modern America Book 99)

by Benjamin C. Waterhouse

“Business” does not entail a constant set of values or preferences across different industries, sectors, and regions, or across time.

Buisness as xyz

Buoyed by corporate cash, these “think tanks” led an intellectual assault on liberalism and institutionalized conservative and libertarian economic policy ideas.

Think tanks

Large firms retained growing numbers of in-house lobbyists, while small and midsized companies leaned more heavily on a growing army of industry-specific trade associations.

Buis via network and lobbying

the 1970s, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the Business Roundtable distinguished themselves as the “Big Three” of business activism

The big three

second half of the twentieth century witnessed a historic boom in the sheer quantity of paid representation.

Finally, in 1946, the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act mandated that any person hired to lobby Congress on behalf of someone else had to register and submit reports of her or his expenses related to that lobbying.

Citizens United ruling in 2010, which overturned restrictions on corporate and union campaign donations on the grounds that such giving constituted constitutionally protected speech,

Washington-based associations used massive public relations campaigns to generate broad-based enthusiasm for or against certain policies. They then used their national networks to coordinate a common vocabulary—“talking points,” to the cynics—and consistent message, which constituents from across the country communicated back to their representatives.

"wordsmithing"

broad ideological claims about free enterprise and the stifling effect of government regulation.

By lobbying America, organized corporate leaders ultimately shaped both the policy options available to lawmakers and the framework through which Americans—liberals, conservatives, and all others—debated and considered the central problems of capitalism and democracy.

THESIS

“from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.”

The ppl cited w disavowing capitalism

On a policy level, the restructuring of the administrative state through the proliferation of social regulations altered the landscape of interest group politics and increased compliance costs and disclosure requirements for more heavily regulated firms.