The Third House: Lobbyists and Lobbying in the States

Alan Rosenthal made a career of looking at how states functioned. He looked at issues with passion but not ideology and with a keen analytical focus. The variations among styles of lobbyists and among state legislatures is huge. But in this book he digs in to give you a good understanding how how lobbyists affect the process - both positively and negatively. State legislatures are a neglected topic that affect all of our lives. They range from part-time assemblies of 60 days a year to fulltime legislatures in several states. Some are formal; some are not. Yet each has a group that help to move and influence the process. This short book is the best I've seen in giving you an insight of the role of lobbyists without the polemics or the smoke that most accounts of the third house engender. While this is a scholarly text - it is still a good read.