Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government

by Theda Skocpol Ph.D.

Overview

How did the debate on health reform turn into the most concerted attack on government in recent American history?

In this incisive account, a prize-winning social scientist offers deep insights into the changing terrain of U.S. politics and public policy. Because of far-reaching changes in the Reagan era, Theda Skocpol shows, the Clinton Health Security bill became a perfect foil for antigovernment mobilization. Thus its defeat provides a unique window into the new political landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393315721
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/17/1997
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Theda Skocpol is professor of government and sociology at Harvard University and the author of Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn Against Government.

Editorial Reviews

"Remarkably thorough and perceptive. . . . [A] major contribution."

Alan Brinkley

"Painfully honest and insightful. [Boomerang] forces progressives to ask fundamental questions about their theoretical assumptions. . . ."

Stanley B. Greenberg

"A grim yet instructive diagnosis of what ails the American body politic."

Philadelphia Inquirer - Robert Schmuhl

Skocpol (government and sociology, Harvard U.) explores the changing currents of domestic U.S. politics through the prism of the defeat of President Clinton's comprehensive health care plan. She argues that the defeat reflected the success of Reaganite conservative tactics which switched from direct attacks on social programs to a fiscal starvation in the name of lower taxes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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