Nelson Polsby, 1934-2007

Nelson agreed businesses largely run Congress but “not ‘business,’ in the singular,” he told me a few months ago. The great mistake of populists is to assume that corporate power is monolithic. Pluralists, of which he was a founding father, understood better. “Much of the congressional agenda can be explained by competition among corporate elites,” he said. “Their lobbyists watch each other like hawks. Proprietary drugs versus generics. Eastern coal versus western. Google versus Microsoft.” Then he beamed.

Nelson Polsby shed light where others saw only dim outlines. If the world of politics is a grand ballroom, Nelson was its chandelier, illuminating the entirety with brilliance and clarity. His death this week at the age of 72 leaves us all in the shadows.