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Thank you for smoking: learning about politics.

Article Excerpt
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, "I'm 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...