I had a dream once in which I was watching a live musical performed by 1920s Chicago gangsters, and I wielded a tommy-gun with two triggers that would change the tempo and volume. It made me think about how power (the gun) is control, and control can be used for anything - that only good men use control for good ends, and made me question whether I am one. Likely not.
This book goes into how lobbying the federal government in the USA works, and it's a wallop. Examining several subjects such as filibustering, gerrymandering, sit-ins, shut-downs and other political terms that I had not understood quite well until reading this book did me a world of good. Also highly relevant is the term of "Salience" which I want to spend some more time on.
"Salience" in the book stands for the general power that a certain movement has in the legislative space. It is made up of spin (the media and public perception of the problem and solution), partisanship (whether or not the vote will be voted for on party lines), urgency, velocity (how quickly the field is changing), scope (is it a major overhaul or minor adjustment) and finally if it's fighting a downhill (legislation remaining in power) or uphill (enacting new legislation) battle.
The previous paragraph should let you know everything you need to about the book, but there's a lot more in there and it flows really well - definitely making a boring subject pop up with life. Having been the first lobbying book I'd ever read (that's not a "for dummies" book which I don't review) I can only say: major thumbs up. I'll want to read more about lobbying as a result of this book, and it's most certainly this year's last BANGER OF THE WEEK.
10/10