Customer Reviews

Legislative Law and Process in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (West Publishing))

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I use this as a reference book in my Master's graduate seminar in Political Communication. It's an excellent overview of the practical nuts and bolts of state legislation, pitched at a general enough level that makes it widely applicable. The book's strengths lie in its account of how state legislators are go-betweens (political entrepreneurs, literally) who rely on the specialized knowledge of lobbyists to craft legislative language. The book clearly makes the point that legislators need input, so advocacy groups who may oppose given legislation need to have a clear presence and good arguments to act as their own lobby.

The weakness of the book is the limit of its scope. This is not so much a criticism of what the book does, and does well, as it to note that significant ideological division in a state legislature can render the pragmatic orientation of the book moot.