- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: WW Norton; 1 edition (April 1 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 039331572X
- ISBN-13: 978-0393315721
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.7 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,769,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
A grim yet instructive diagnosis of what ails the American body politic. -- Robert Schmuhl, Philadelphia Inquirer
As readable as it is insightful, Boomerang sketches the sources economic, institutional, political of President Clinton's dire defeat on health care reform in 1994, a pivotal precursor of that year's congressional elections. . . . A compelling story. . . . Required reading for president-watchers and policy designers alike, indeed for anyone concerned about American institutions. -- Richard E. Neustadt
Painfully honest and insightful. [Boomerang] forces progressives to ask fundamental questions about their theoretical assumptions. -- Stanley B. Greenberg, author of Middle Class Dreams
Remarkably thorough and perceptive. . . . [A] major contribution. -- Alan Brinkley, Columbia University, author of The End of Reform
As readable as it is insightful, Boomerang sketches the sources economic, institutional, political of President Clinton's dire defeat on health care reform in 1994, a pivotal precursor of that year's congressional elections. . . . A compelling story. . . . Required reading for president-watchers and policy designers alike, indeed for anyone concerned about American institutions. -- Richard E. Neustadt
Painfully honest and insightful. [Boomerang] forces progressives to ask fundamental questions about their theoretical assumptions. -- Stanley B. Greenberg, author of Middle Class Dreams
Remarkably thorough and perceptive. . . . [A] major contribution. -- Alan Brinkley, Columbia University, author of The End of Reform
Book Description
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.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Looking back from the vantage point of the well-received Health Security speech of September 1993, President Clinton and his delighted advisors had every reason to think that they were acting with a rising tide in U.S. politics. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Looking back from the vantage point of the well-received Health Security speech of September 1993, President Clinton and his delighted advisors had every reason to think that they were acting with a rising tide in U.S. politics. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Skocpol does it again,
By A Customer
This review is from: Boomerang (Paperback)
Theda Skocpol's "Boomerang" is nearly as interesting and sharp as her opinions. It's another winner.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Boomerang falls short.,
By
This review is from: Boomerang (Paperback)
Boomerang by Theda Skocpol, a professor of government and sociology at Harvard University is subtitled, "Clinton's Health Security Effort and the Turn Against Government in U.S. Politics." And indeed, this book is about politics, not about the reality of what went on in those crucial years. One comes out with the impression that the book was written to bring the author to the attention of the Clinton administration.For example, she writes that Hillary and President Clinton had found an ideal "middle way" for health care reform, but that unfortunately, their plan was sabotaged by the conservatives in 1994 following the lead of Bill Kristol, former chief aide to Vice President Dan Quayle. She laments that the Democrats were not able to marshall their forces at a critical time to pass what she obviously considers the "good" legislation of the Health Security Act. While she gives Bill Kristol considerable, unflattering credit, she fails to even mention the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), whose landmark lawsuit, AAPS v. Clinton, against the secret Health Care Task Force, derailed to a significant extent the Health Security Act of 1993. Neither AAPS nor the lawsuit appears in the text or index. The book is therefore quite incomplete. In just one chapter of his book, The Seduction of Hillary Rodham, author David Brock gives by far a more accurate portrayal. The book is an apologia for the ill-fated Health Security Act which carried with it a significant transfer of control of health care delivery from the private sector to the government bureaucrats and an assortment of central planners in the various levels of the bureaucracy, such as the Purchasing Cooperatives, the National Health Board, HHS, and numerous other alphabet soup government or quasi-government agencies that were to be established. The American people were correct in rejecting socialized medicine and the Clinton plan.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine, scholarly work on an important event,
This review is from: Boomerang (Paperback)
This book promises to explain to the reader why the Clinton health care plan failed. The author does this rather well, pointing out how flaws in Clinton's "selling" of the program along with the disunity of sympathetic interest groups could not match the unity and purpose of Republican opponents. It is important to remember that Ms. Skocpol is a scholar, which can be good and bad. Her work is scholarly so it is well-proven (like a scholar) but also very narrow in scope (also, sadly, like a scholar). If you want an analysis of what went on behind closed doors in the 1993-94 fight or want a real discussion on the merits of health care reform, go elsewhere. But if you want an analysis solely on "why Clinton failed," this book does a very good job.
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