Navigating Policy by the Stars: The Influence of Celebrity Entertainers on Federal Lawmaking

Abstract

Celebrity entertainers such as actors, musicians and professional athletes have become increasingly engaged in social advocacy during the past few decades, publicly expressing their perspectives on core policy issues including public health and safety, the environment, and foreign policy. This Article presents the results of the first comprehensive empirical and qualitative study of one particularly powerful form of celebrity advocacy—testimony before the U.S. Congress. The study reveals that federal legislators have invited hundreds of celebrity entertainers to testify at congressional hearings on issues unrelated to their occupations and that the practice has endured without careful reflection on the role that these persons should play in the legislative process. The Article considers the degree to which celebrity testimony is conducive to effective federal lawmaking and the extent to which this form of advocacy aligns with fundamental democratic ideals in American society. It argues that celebrity testimony is problematic in both regards but explains why the practice is nonetheless likely to continue. INTRODUCTION 2 I. CHARACTERISTICS OF CELEBRITY TESTIMONY 8 A. Frequency of Celebrity Testimony 8 B. Categories of Celebrity Witnesses 10 C. Types of Hearings and Social Issues Addressed 12 D. Committees Before Which Celebrities Testified 14 II. CAUSES OF CELEBRITY TESTIMONY 15 † Professor of Law, Affiliate Professor of Psychology, and Director of Law and Psychology Graduate Program, Arizona State University; American Psychological Association Congressional Fellow, 2002-03. The author thanks Robert Cialdini, Aaron Fellmeth, Elizabeth Loftus, Steve Neuberg and Michael Saks for comments on earlier versions of the Article. She also thanks Marianne Alcorn, Amanda Kucera, Cole Schlabach, Nick Schweitzer, Alyssa Staudinger, and especially Beth DiFelice and Erin Cunningham, for research assistance.