ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the notion that public officials would see themselves as under almost constant pressure from those who have a stake in the decisions they make. The word "pressure" does exist in Congressional parlance. It is used, for example, to explain the opposition's behavior, sometimes described as "opportunistic yielding to pressure." There is also reference to pressure on oneself. Sometimes the term "pressure mail" was applied to mail on the Reciprocal Trade Act. Stimulated or interest-group mail is the type of communication most likely to be regarded as pressure because it comes close to being an implied threat to mobilize votes against the congressman. Success in that profession, as in any other, depends on creating a product that the public wants and becoming a leading purveyor of it. But, as is also true in business or education, the supplier does not wait passively for wants to appear.
