Thank You for Smoking: Learning about Politics (2006)

Abstract The subfield of political interest groups is difficult to teach and for students to understand coherently. While it is descriptively and conceptually rich, it is challenging for students to organize and to apply the information in manageable ways. We report on our utilization of a writing assignment over a satirical novel, Thank You for Smoking, as an analytical exercise to improve student comprehension of this important subject matter, and as a way to make political interest groups courses more enjoyable for students. Satire and Thank You for Smoking Satire is a literary or artistic technique that blends a censorious attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity (Harmon and Holman 2003, 453). Satire has long been used as a tool to critique those in power and their institutions. For example, Voltaire used Candide to ridicule the 18th century Catholic Church for its repression of free speech, support of slavery, and other vices. In doing so, a satirist hopes to prod individuals and institutions to inaugurate reforms. Other prominent authors of satire include Aristophanes, Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams. Satire is also found in movies (Charlie Chaplin and Stanley Kubrick), songs (Tom Lehrer), stand-up comedic routines (Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, and Mort Sahl), and radio and TV (David Sedaris, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert). Satire is amusing because it is based on some element or kernel of truth. Dust Bowl era humorist Will Rogers was a skilled satirist. His famous 1924 statement, not a member of an organized party. I'm a Democrat, still rings true today highlighting the major organization problem that has bedeviled the party for decades (O'Brien 1935, 162). Likewise, Rogers' comment following the opening prayer at the 1928 National Republican Convention, If the Lord can see his way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking, (Rogers 1997, 370) resonated then as it does now with critics of the party. Christopher Buckley's 1994 novel Thank You for Smoking (TYFS) is certainly a satirical work. The story centers on Nick Naylor, the chief spokesperson for the Academy of Tobacco Studies (ATS), the tobacco lobby. [1] Labeled immoral by his critics, but probably amoral for much of the book, Nick defends the tobacco industry by disputing government data on the health effects of smoking, defending its right to advertise by invoking the First Amendment, and framing the right to smoke in terms of individual liberty. In doing so, Nick is a campaign operative trying to drag the opposition off message, while trying to convince undecided citizens that smoking should not be further restricted. While Nick and the tobacco industry win a few skirmishes in the novel, they are losing the war: local governments, led by California, the Reichland of the Health Nazis (Buckley 1994, 60), are increasing their restrictions on smoking in public places, the industry's products are the target of higher and higher taxes and product liability lawsuits, and the industry's ability to market its product (at least in the U.S.) is shrinking. Despised by millions for being the face of one of the most hated industries in America, Nick commiserates with two fellow lobbyists, who represent the pro-gun lobby (SAFETY) and the alcoholic beverage trade association (the Moderation Council). The three lobbyists call themselves the MOD Squad, which is short for Merchants of Death. To himself and others, Nick justifies his defense of the tobacco industry by arguing that it a professional challenge to represent a pariah industry (43), and that it pays the (88) and his son's private school tuition. Indeed, Nick argues that Ninety-nine percent of everything that is done in this world, good and bad, is done to pay a (89). Nick recognizes that the mortgage defense has a certain Nuremberg Trial ring to it. …