The National Organization for Women (NOW) is in many ways the archetypal social movement organization (SMO), and it is unquestionably the premier SMO of the second wave of the women's movement. The story of NOW's founding has been told and retold many times, in part because it seems to embody many of the factors that scholars tell us are crucial for social movement (and thus, SMO) emergence: political opportunity (among other things, the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), communication networks (such as the U.S. and state-level Commissions on the Status of Women), patrons (e.g., organized labor), resources (via growing numbers of professional and working women), and so on.

But once that story is told, our knowledge and understanding of NOW—the largest feminist organization in the United States, the organizational “face” of feminism for many Americans—declines sharply. Many of us know the story of NOW's (infamous) involvement in Geraldine Ferraro's nomination for vice president in 1984 or recall the controversy over NOW's position on the allegations of sexual harassment against President Clinton in the 1990s. Yet we have lacked a systematic description and analysis of the history and politics of the National Organization for Women. Maryann Barakso's fine study, Governing NOW, fills that void, and in doing so, offers an important contribution to our understanding of gender politics in the United States. Equally important, the book represents a valuable case study of SMO and interest group governance that details the ways in which the original goals that motivate an organization's creation and the governance structures established at the onset continue to shape policies and actions for decades after the fact.

Barakso seeks to explain NOW's “strategic history” (its policy goals and political tactics) over the past 35 or so years. Why did NOW support the Equal Rights Amendment when (at least in the short run) that support cost the organization its United Auto Workers–supplied office space? Why was NOW's entrance into electoral politics so internally divisive? Why does NOW continue to employ mass demonstrations and protests as a central strategic tool? Why has NOW not made policies that address work–family balance a legislative priority? Barakso argues that NOW's choices can best be understood as a function of the enduring influence of both the group's founding principles and its formal decision-making processes. NOW's original statement of purpose and other founding documents demonstrate a commitment to acting as a feminist vanguard, to grassroots activism, and to political independence. Those values are reflected in its governance structures, which privilege participation over hierarchy and give substantial power to the membership. Members choose NOW leaders via elections and influence policy and tactics at annual membership conferences. Over time, these principles and structures were reinforced as NOW members pushed for, and won, structural changes that provided an even greater role for the grass roots, as truly contested elections offered members a choice between competing visions for the organization, and as activists used the organization's decentralized structure to demand that NOW maintain a radical and uncompromising vision of feminist equality.

One of the central strengths of this book is its detailed history of the internal and external politics of the National Organization for Women. Barakso examined NOW archives, content-coded various documents and records, interviewed NOW leaders and activists, and was a participant observer at a number of NOW annual membership conferences. The bulk of the book is a thorough and perceptive accounting of the controversies, issues, personalities, and finally choices and outcomes that characterized NOW from its founding in 1966 through to the present. This history, which has not, to my knowledge, been recounted elsewhere with such depth and detail, is a valuable addition to our understanding of these times and politics, and it offers rare insight into the internal workings of a large and influential interest organization. Barakso's rich study will be of great use not only to students of women and politics but also to scholars of interest groups and SMOs as well.

As is often the case, the strengths of the work (careful case study of one organization) also comprise some of its weaknesses. The analytic focus is sometimes lost among the many events and controversies that are recounted. Without comparative data, it is difficult to be fully confident that NOW's strategic choices are a function of its founding principles and governance structures or of some other factors. One wonders whether there are other similarly structured groups that are more or less radical, or differently structured organizations that come to similar decisions in terms of goals and tactics. Many organizations with similarly radical visions at their founding moderate their politics over time, and some organizations take radical stances precisely because members lack, rather than possess, the interest or opportunity to shape the group's direction. Barakso puts great emphasis on member participation in governance as an explanation for NOW's radical stances and grassroots tactics, but different activist members might have demanded different sorts of outcomes; it is not member participation per se but the kinds of members who choose to be active in NOW that influence its direction. There is likely a feedback loop of some sort at work here—NOW's reputation as a vanguard organization that does not compromise on women's rights likely attracts a certain sort of member and activist who then advocates for a continuation of the same. Future research that surveyed or interviewed NOW members as to their reasons for membership and activism would be a fascinating complement to Barakso's work.

Despite these quibbles, Governing Now is an important contribution to the literature on women and politics and on interest groups and SMOs. Barakso's analysis helps us to understand how and why, after all these years, the National Organization for Women continues to serve as an unyielding advocate for women's rights from both inside and outside of the so-called political mainstream.