The Hollow Core: Private Interests in National Policy Making

by John P. Heinz, Edward O. Laumann, Robert L. Nelson

Critics of the policy-making process argue that private interest groups exert too much influence on the decisions of government, but only rarely has this proposition been examined systematically. The Hollow Core draws on interviews with more than 300 interest groups, 800 lobbyists, and 300 government officials to assess the efforts of private organizations to influence federal policy in four areas--agriculture, energy, health, and labor policy.

448 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting research, but not the most interesting presentation of it. The book is built on some excellent interviews of interest representatives in four policy domains: health, labor, energy and agriculture. The analysis drags, however, and doesn't reach any groundbreaking conclusions.