Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

No other reference analyzes the origins, development, programs, publications, and political action of 180 major American organizations concerned with women's issues in such depth. Over 100 experts provide an overview of how national women's groups of all kinds and representing varied and broad segments of society have had an impact on a wide range of public policy issues in Washington in recent years. Students, teachers, professionals in government and non-governmental agencies, and citizen activists will find this handy sourcebook a treasury of authoritative information about how private citizens work to affect national policy and legislation in essential ways.

These in-depth profiles of major non-governmental organizations show how they compete to protect consumer or business interests ranging across all stages of American life from baby foods to funerals. The analyses of 109 interest groups portray a wide array of the political tactics that have helped shape consumer policy over the past generation. Drawing upon materials from the organizations themselves, as well as from other original and secondary sources, the profiles depict who the groups represent, their goals, how they were founded, their resources, organizational structures and procedures, the services and benefits that they offer, the issues that they address, and the tactics that they use to affect federal policy. Students, teachers, policymakers, administrators, consumer and business activities and interest group watchdogs will learn through this pioneering new reference who gets what in the marketplace and in politics and why.

This is the third book in what the author calls his "sin" trilogy: the gambling, tobacco, and alcohol industries. Similar to the gambling and tobacco industries, the alcohol industry is one in which the business and public policy processes are intimately linked. Furthermore, it is a highly regulated industry whose very existence depends upon the will of government at all levels and branches. What all the industries share is that they are viewed as a painless source of revenue for government. The alcohol industry is composed of three segments, namely beer, distilled spirits, and wine, each with a distinct product and market. Since the end of Prohibition, public policy makers have developed a certain "tolerance" for alcohol products, but they continue to grapple with the question of how to deal with the "alcohol" problem. While the author updates the current structure and strategies of competition among these industries, his primary rationale for doing so is to analyze how these industries react toincreased public scrutiny of their business activities. The other unique feature of this book is its emphasis on how public policy measures affect the sale of beer, distilled spirits, and wine at the state level.