The Lobbyists

by Jeffrey Birnbaum

Well, as Machiavelli said, flattery is everything, it’s one’s weakness. I selected this book because I’m one of the characters in it. About the book I would say, it’s a good sitcom, it is a nice read, it gives some of the flavor of what lobbying is about. It doesn’t get into fundamental ethical questions – – whether the elites have a stranglehold on public policy or whether the system is more open and, as Alinksy suggested, the less powerful can prevail. It’s not an analytical book per se. But it gives you a good flavor of what it’s all about.