don't have many defenders in academe. Yet Tesh, a Yale political scientist, finds it odd that "having a passionate conviction about abortion, disarmament, homosexuality, guns, femi- nism, tax laws, or the environment" is seen as a political vice.
Single-issue groups, she says, are often viewed as just another "spe- cial interest" or "pressure group." But traditional interest groups work for legislation that directly (often economically) benefits their mem- bers; membership...