STATE CAPTURE

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 focus—from
Congress to state legislatures—by 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.