Do policymakers heed the voices of the American public or only the lobbyists in Washington? Why do they take action on health reform, but not gun control? Why does policymaking usually move slowly, and sometimes not at all? Artists of the Possible takes on these questions, analyzing sixty years of domestic policy history to provide a new understanding of what drives policymaking in all three branches of government. The results are surprising: public policy does not address the public's largest concerns. The amount of policy-and its liberal or conservative direction-emerges instead from coalition building and compromises among political elites. Elections, public opinion, and media coverage have little impact, no matter the issue area. Even changes in Washington's partisan balance and ideological divides fail to reliably produce shifts in policy direction. This data-rich, exhaustively researched work overturns our most basic assumptions about how policy is made, challenging the notion that our government is of, by, and for the people.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN-13
9780199967834
eBay Product ID (ePID)
209192426
Product Key Features
Subject Area
Political Science
Author
Matt Grossmann
Publication Name
Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy since 1945
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Government, Strategy, Politics
Publication Year
2014
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
272 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
238mm
Item Width
162mm
Item Weight
596g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Matt Grossmann
Series Title
Studies in Postwar American Political Development
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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