Governing under Stress: The Implementation of Obama's Economic Stimulus Program

by Timothy J. Conlan (Editor), Paul L. Posner (Editor), Priscilla M. Regan (Editor), Sheldon Edner (Contribution by), Matthew J. Critchfield (Contribution by)

Overview

The underappreciated but surprisingly successful implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) helped rescue the economy during the Great Recession and represented one of the most important achievements of the Obama presidency. It tested all levels of government with urgent time frames and extensive accountability requirements. While ARRA passed most tests with comparatively little mismanagement or fraud, negative public and media perceptions of the initiative deprived the president of political credit.

Drawing on more than two hundred interviews and nationwide field research, Governing under Stress examines a range of ARRA stimulus programs to analyze the fraught politics, complex implementation, and impact of the legislation. Essays from public administration scholars use ARRA to study how to implement large federal programs in our modern era of indirect, networked governance. Throughout, the contributors present potent insights into the most pressing challenges facing public policy and management, and they uncover important lessons about policy instruments and networks, the effects of transparency and accountability, and the successes and failures of different types of government intervention.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626163713
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2017
Series:	Public Management and Change series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Timothy J. Conlan is university professor of government at George Mason University. He coauthored Pathways of Power with Paul L. Posner.

Paul L. Posner is the director of the Graduate Public Administration Program, head of the Centers on the Public Service at George Mason University, and author of The Politics of Unfunded Mandates.

Priscilla M. Regan is a professor in the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University.

Table of Contents

Preface

1.Managing the Great Recession: A Stress Test for Modern GovernanceTimothy J. Conlan, Paul L. Posner, and Priscilla M. Regan

2. Economic Crisis and Policy Response: The Context, Design, and Politics of the Recovery ActTimothy J. Conlan and Paul L. Posner

3. A Lifeline to Struggling States: The State Fiscal Stabilization FundTimothy J. Conlan

4. The Rush to Pave: Adapting the Federal-aid Highway Network to ARRASheldon M. Edner and Matthew J. Critchfield

5. Oh What a Tangled Web: Implementation of Broadband Assistance GrantsPriscilla M. Regan

6. Weathering Explosive Growth: Weatherization Assistance Grants under ARRAAlan J. Abramson

7. A Bump in the Road: The Benefits of Established Networks for Implementing ARRA under the New Markets Tax Credit ProgramLehn M. Benjamin

8. Governing Without Networks? Implementing the Advanced Energy Tax Credit ProgramStefan Toepler and Matthew Sommerfeld

9. Accountability under Stress: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009Paul L. Posner

10. Conclusions: Networked Governance under StressPaul L. Posner, Timothy J. Conlan, and Priscilla M. Regan

Select BibliographyList of ContributorsIndex

What People are Saying About This

Alice M. Rivlin

After a plethora of studies of the impact of the Obama stimulus on the national economy, here at last is an insightful analysis of what happened in the states. The authors have made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of our federal system under stress.

Editorial Reviews

a welcome contribution to the literature and could be adapted for use by researchers and in the classroom for courses in public policy making and administration as well as state and local government.

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

A powerful survey that is packed with important insights from a wide range of administrators and policy makers.

Midwest Book Review

a welcome contribution to the literature and could be adapted for use by researchers and in the classroom for courses in public policy making and administration as well as state and local government.

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

After a plethora of studies of the impact of the Obama stimulus on the national economy, here at last is an insightful analysis of what happened in the states. The authors have made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of our federal system under stress.

Alice M. Rivlin

"After a plethora of studies of the impact of the Obama stimulus on the national economy, here at last is an insightful analysis of what happened in the states. The authors have made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of our federal system under stress." — Alice M. Rivlin, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office

, The Brookings Institution

From the Publisher