State capture How conservative activists, big businesses, and wealthy donors reshaped the American states--and the nation

Many state legislatures operate without professional lawmakers or seasoned staffers. Those who assume that most neophytes can hit the ground running when it comes to policy need to understand the genesis of a wide array of policy initiatives that seem to have materialized simultaneously in several state capitols. According to Hertel-Fernandez (School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia Univ.), the Koch Brothers--backed Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the State Policy Network troika is responsible for providing state legislators with model legislation on issues that include "stand your ground," right to work, and voter ID. In the preface, the author writes that these business-friendly, right-leaning groups churn out "ideas, research, legislative language, talking points, polling, and expert witnesses" either en masse or, if needed, on request. In fact, it is not unusual for inexperienced lawmakers to sponsor legislation that mirrors a model bill word-for-word. Hence the book's title. The author defines state capture as a scenario in which "small groups of well-resourced individuals and companies shape the political game to their advantage." Progressive groups are no match for cross-state networks in terms of political clout. This is required reading for those studying American federalism, interest group politics, or public policy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. --Melanie J. Blumberg, California University of Pennsylvania

An examination of how coordinated conservative advocacy over the past few decades has "produced a stark rightward shift across the states, ultimately contributing to a dramatic redistribution of political power."As Hertel-Fernandez (International and Public Affairs/Columbia Univ.; Politics at Work: How Companies Turn Their Workers into Lobbyists, 2018, etc.) shows, the shift in focusfrom Congress to state legislaturesby three key conservative groups has pushed forward a widespread right-wing agenda that has had remarkable, and alarming, ramifications. The author explores the work of this "right-wing troika" in gradually and successfully changing the direction of state legislation on specific issues dear to businesses and conservatives. This trio of special interest groups includes the American Legislative Exchange, created in 1973, which disseminates "model" legislative language that lawmakers can access for a yearly membership fee; the State Policy Network, created in 1986, which "testifies" to and markets the model bills produced by ALEC; and Americans for Prosperity, the organization of conservative activists created by the Koch brothers in 2004. With coordinated pressure on activists, donors, businesses, and politicians, these groups have been able to steer state legislatures in a "dramatic right-wing swing" in a variety of specific areas, including "stand-your-ground" (the right of individuals to use lethal force to protect against perceived bodily harm), right-to-work (draining labor unions of financial support), anti-Affordable Care Act measures, and voter ID laws. As the author asserts, the troika has no magic formula but rather a trial-by-error process of forming coalitions while relying on "overworked and underpaid state lawmakers" who can cut-and-paste prewritten policy proposals. In his systematic and impeccably researched work, Hertel-Fernandez discusses why liberal efforts to counter the troika have floundered and why this infiltration of right-wing state policy endangers the quality of American democracy.A highly specific, important study in understanding why attention to state legislatures and local elections across the country is increasingly crucial. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.