ABSTRACT
The businessman may approach Congress directly, by writing, telephoning, or speaking to some representative or senator. The proportions reporting communicating with Congress in 1954–1955 were 38 per cent of the heads of the largest firms, 30 per cent of the heads of the middle-sized firms, and 18 per cent of the heads of the smallest firms. On cross-sectional surveys of the American electorate, people have been asked if they have ever communicated with Congress or any other lawmaking body. Regardless of the economic interest of the industry from which they come, the men who said "raise tariffs" were almost invariably more likely to have communicated with Congress than those who said "reduce tariffs." Low-tariff interests and low-tariff attitudes taken individually or even in interaction proved to be relatively weak stimuli to communicate with Congress. The men who reported that they had communicated with Congress had such environmental supports.
