Astroturf

See also: AstroTurf and astroturf

English

Alternative forms

• astroturf

Etymology

See AstroTurf and astroturfing.

Verb

Astroturf (third-person singular simple present Astroturfs, present participle Astroturfing, simple past and past participle Astroturfed)

1. To cover with an artificial grass-like material.
   • 2002, Wendy Perriam, Tread Softly, page 17:

     But what was there left to Astroturf? The sitting-room? Hugh's bald patch?

   • 2006, Dick Wolfsie, Indiana Curiosities, 2nd, page 41:

     Is it just me, or is it hard to find anyone nowadays to Astroturf your car?

2. (politics, usually lowercase) To fabricate an impression of political support for an agenda.
   • 2009 December 1, James Hoggan, Richard Littlemore, Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, Greystone Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 197:

     We have been Astroturfed by some of the biggest players in the business. As you will read in the coming pages, a reasonable-sounding group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices spent us$40 million during the last presidential […]

   • 2011 April 15, Andrew Breitbart, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:

     Even Maher reacted; his Achilles' heel is that even though he's a leftie, he exhibits clear contempt for the astroturfed audience he relies upon for his laughs. The awkwardness continued for a full, commercial-free half hour, […]

   • 2021 August 10, Kurt Andersen, Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History, Random House Trade Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 282:

     The opposition party in Washington and its Astroturfed Tea Partiers around the country could focus strictly on assigning blame for the disaster . At the direction of the field marshals of the rich right in Washington , the Tea Party was […]

Derived terms

• astroturfer
• astroturfing

Adjective

Astroturf (comparative more Astroturf, superlative most Astroturf)

1. Of a group created by a larger organisation (especially a corporation or political party), but presenting itself as a grassroots organisation.
   • 2005 04, Richard Larsen, You, Sir, Are an Idiot: Newspaper Columns, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 125:

     Can we assure readers that astroturf letters will not appear as letters in The Star? Unfortunately, no. At least a dozen Web sites from which astroturf can be generated have been identified. Many more exist.

   • 2011 August 18, John S. Dryzek, Richard B. Norgaard, David Schlosberg, The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 154:

     The defining feature of astroturf groups is that they are generated by an industry, think tank, or front group, but disguised to appear as a spontaneous, popular 'grassroots' effort. They are created to lobby or campaign on behalf of […]

   • 2014 October 29, Hyunyi Cho, Torsten Reimer, Katherine A. McComas, The SAGE Handbook of Risk Communication, SAGE Publications, →ISBN:

     These astroturf organizations allow corporations to engage in public debates and government hearings under the guise of concerned citizens. A key purpose of astroturf activities is to defuse the efforts of social movement organizations […]

Noun

Astroturf (plural Astroturfs)

1. Alternative spelling of AstroTurf
2. (US, politics) A campaign designed to appear like a genuine popular (or grassroots) movement, that does not have such popular support.
   • 2010 October 25, George Monbiot, “The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires”, in The Guardian‎^[1], retrieved September 26, 2021:

     An Astroturf campaign is a fake grassroots movement: it purports to be a spontaneous uprising of concerned citizens, but in reality it is founded and funded by elite interests. Some Astroturf campaigns have no grassroots component at all. Others catalyse and direct real mobilisations.

See also

• claque