In the summer of Astroturf, handwrite your postcards?

A former student of mine interned for a U.S. senator this summer, which POLITICO.com calls "the summer of Astroturf." He wrote:

I found that interest groups would be wise to direct their members to handwrite their messages. That was one characteristic that could take your note to the Senator's desk or earn the constituent a call back from the Senator.

The POLITICO story gives some recent examples of Astroturf ...

The summer of Astroturf—and of accusations of Astroturf—hasn’t been limited to health care. In the single most egregious incident, Bonner & Associates, a lobbying firm, forged the signatures of local ethnic and senior citizens organizations under letters opposing a bill to regulate greenhouse gases. In another, the chairman of the American Conservative Union appeared to ask for cash in exchange for taking sides in a dispute between FedEx and UPS carriers. And the New York Times reported this week that the coal industry has taken to busing its employees, on company time, to raucous rallies against the climate legislation.

... which in this instance is of course not the stuff on which you play football, but rather is faked grassroots activity. As a University of Texas political terms glossary defines it,

The term ‘grassroots movement’ implies a broad based, deeply rooted sentiment and action among the populace. An astroturf campaign, by comparison, is artificial—i.e., it may look like the real thing, but it is orchestrated and directed by a few well-placed interest groups. In a democratic system, grass roots support is an essential legitimizing force, so political and corporate economic campaigns often subsidize or even manufacture the appearance of grass roots activity to advance particular interests. Thus, the creation of the appearance of grass roots support has gained its own label: astro turfing.

Notes to my POLS 235 students:

1. This is a good example of the Astroturf concept from your "Kingdon Summary" reading in Unit 2.


2. It's completely acceptable to write a post for your own blog, as I've done here, and then post it on the class blog. Be sure to post the whole thing on the class blog, not just a link to the post on your own blog.

Congressional Budget Office is the skunk at the picnic

NPR has a good story on the Congressional Budget Office, which is under fire as usual for its recent $1 trillion forecast of the cost of health care reform. The CBO is considered "the skunk at the picnic" by members of Congress who don't want to see the price tags for desired programs come in quite so high. But, an important point to remember is one I make to my students about all policy analysis: "In the end it's up to Congress to decide how much weight to give its research."

Budget Office Works Powerfully Behind The Scenes : NPR.

Professors and researchers move up in agenda setting?

Kingdon found professors and researchers were somewhat influential in Washington agenda setting. What effect might they have when a Gallup poll shows survey respondents more confident in them than in President Obama or Congress to recommend "the right thing for reforming the U.S. healthcare system?

This also jibes with Stealth Democracy's finding that people are willing to trust government decision making to disinterested technocrats.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) say they are confident in doctors to recommend the right thing for reforming the U.S. healthcare system. That is significantly higher than the public confidence extended to President Barack Obama, as well as to six other entities that will be weighing in during the emerging healthcare reform debate.

via Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval.

U.K. Statistics Authority polices political number manipulation

In the United Kingdom, changing the definition of unemployment 23 times changed the number of people unemployed--23 times. Enter the U.K. Statistics Authority, charged with policing political number manipulation.

On The Media: Transcript of "The Stat Police" (June 19, 2009).

In-vitro fertilization called frivolous

Would people leave in-vitro fertilization out of their health-care coverage if they could?

And, lo, it proved true, as 100 million intelligent, well-educated employees of Corporate America were allowed to see for the first time what "tax free" health insurance was really costing them. They saw how it distorted their behavior and caused them to allocate far more of their incomes to the medical-industrial complex than they would have chosen for themselves.

Eyes newly opened, they demanded cheaper insurance options, covering fewer services (cancer wigs, family counseling, in-vitro fertilization), and opted for plans with higher deductibles and co-pays in return for much lower monthly rates.

via Jenkins: The Death and Life of Health 'Reform' - WSJ.com.

Johanns warns on health care plan

This is a good complement to Deborah Stone's "Numbers" chapter in her book Policy Paradox. When you dispute whether the "47 million uninsured" figure is accurate, as U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) does in this story, you are attempting to redefine the problem.

NETRADIO: Johanns warns on health care plan (2009-06-11).

Return of the Once-Rare Beaver? Not in My Yard

An example of the unintended consequences of public policy.

Around the nation, decades of environmental regulation, conservation efforts and changing land use have brought many species, like beavers, so far back from the brink that they are viewed as nuisances. As Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecologist at Duke University, put it, “We are finding they are inconvenient.�

via Return of the Once-Rare Beaver? Not in My Yard. - NYTimes.com.