Booknotes

The New Deal & American Youth: Ideas & Ideals in a Depression Decade. By Richard A. Reiman. Athens, Ga: the University of Georgia Press, 1992. 253p. $35.00.

Reiman offers an historical analysis of the National Youth Administration, focussing on the actors involved in the development of the agency's goals, and efforts to attain them. He argues that the underlying mission of the agency was to promote democratic values to the nation's youth in the face of communism and fascism. The book would be useful to those studying the policies of the New Deal and those interested in past efforts to promote democracy through policy.

Policy and Politics in Canada: Institutionalized Ambivalence. By Carolyn J. Tuohy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. 424p. $44.95(c), $18.95(p).

Written as part of the comparative series, Policy and Politics in Industrial States, Tuohy argues that policy making in Canada is greatly influenced by ambiguous state structures. This influence often results in elite accommodation and compromise over policy. She addresses issues areas such as federal-provincial relations, health care, industrial and labor policy, economic development, oil and gas policy, and minority language rights. In addition to those interested in Canadian politics and policy, this work would also be useful for those interested in political institutions.

Implementing State Government Export Programs. By Michael Frazier. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992. 232p. $45.00.

Frazier assesses the implementation of state export trade programs in Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas and Virginia. Frazier uses the Mazmanian-Sabatier model to assess each state agency and compare them across states. Frazier not only draws conclusions with regard to the study of state export programs as a mode of economic development, but also makes suggestions regarding the usefulness of implementation theory.

Women and Public Administration: International Perspectives. Edited by Jane H. Bayes. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 1992. 135p. $29.95(h), $14.95(s).

This edited volume explores the role of women workers in bureaucracies in India, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and the United States. The authors relate the history of the country, organization of government, structure of the labor market, and socialization patterns to the level of women civilian workers, the traditional roles for women in bureaucracies, and the perceptions discrimination and equality in each country. The book provides comparative first person accounts of the role of women in public institutions.

Desegregation In American Schools: Comparative Intervention Strategies. By Brian L. Fife. New York: Praeger, 1992. 224p. $39.95.

Fife assesses the effectiveness of twenty school district desegregation programs with a new framework. He uses a range of rankings from mandated/coercive programs to voluntary/choice programs to characterize each district. From this, he concludes that the coercive/mandated approaches are most effective at desegregation. This book may be of interest to those researching education policy, desegregation policy, and policy implementation.

Gender and Public Policy: Cases and Comments. Edited by Kenneth Winston and Mary Jo Bane. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993. $55.00(hc), $19.95(pb).

This edited volume addresses a wide range of gender issues in public debate, including the following: family, reproduction, culture, work place, social services, and governance. The sources of the entries range from personal stories and narratives to court opinions and political statements. The book is purposely directed toward providing background for classroom discussion, and includes extensive recommended readings.

Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy. Edited by Daniel W. Bromley. San Francisco, CA: The Institute for Contemporary Studies, 1992. 400p. $44.95(c), $14.95(p).

The contributors in this volume explore the capabilities of common property systems as an alternative to private property or public control of resources. Examples from a wide range of natural resource areas - grazing, fisheries, forests, irrigation systems - from around the world provide evidence for the authors' prescription that these local, citizen empowering cooperatives are effective and efficient means for managing resources. Lessons and implications for policy making are also addressed.

Personal Saving, Consumption, & Tax Policy. Edited by Marvin H. Kosters. Washington, D.C.: The AEI Press, 1992.

This edited volume contains selections from government officials involved in fiscal policy and many policy analysts who study the fiscal policy process. The focus of the book is on the changes in personal taxation in the 1980s and recent tax policy proposals. Both are assessed in terms of their effect on personal saving, national saving, and the social and economic goals of tax policy. The book is intended for a wide audience from policy scholars to policy makers.

Fiscal Politics and the Budget Enforcement Act. Edited by Marvin H. Kosters. Washington, D.C.: The AEI Press, 1992.

The contributors to this volume focus on the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act. The essays address issues including, the underlying principles of the agreement, the act's effect on accountability, the timing and historical context of the agreement, and the measurement of the effect of the act on the economy. The volume may be of interest to scholars of national political economy and budgetary policy.

Evaluating Welfare and Training Programs. Edited by Charles F. Manski and Irwin Garfinkel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.

A wide range of methodologies for evaluating social programs are assessed in this edited volume. Contributors include policy researchers from universities, the government, and private consulting firms. The book strives to improve communication, appreciation, and understanding between scholars partial to different and often conflicting methods of evaluation. The dialogue over methodologies is applicable to program evaluation of not only welfare and training programs but all social policy as well.

Culture and Democracy: Social and Ethical Issues in Public Support for the Arts and Humanities. Edited By Andrew Buchwalter. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. $39.00 (hc).

The essays in this volume are from scholars, artists and administrators, and focus on the historical, political, philosophical, and legal issues surrounding the role of government in a democracy in the promotion and support of art and culture. This book is of interest to those studying national cultural policy in a wide range of disciplines from the social sciences to literature and philosophy.

HUD Scandals: Howling Headlines and Silent Fiascoes. By Irving Welfeld. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1992. 194 p. $29.95.

Welfeld provides an historical assessment of the scandals of HUD. He analyzes the lack of oversight inside and outside of HUD that allowed these events to occur. From this and his experience at HUD, Welfeld prescribes limiting administrator discretion and incentives for abuse as a means of improving management of housing programs.

Moving the Earth: Cooperative Federalism and Implementation of the Surface Mining Act. Edited by Uday Desai. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993. 272p. $47.95.

This case study offers an in depth look at three characteristics of policy implementation surrounding the Surface Mining Act: the interests involved, the role of the courts, and intergovernmental relations. Many of the contributors are participants in the policy process and present conflicting ideas and values with regard to how the policy should be implemented. The book provides an example of how the interaction of these interests affects policy implementation.

Smoking: Making The Risky Decision. By W. Kip Viscusi. New York: University of Oxford Press, 1992.

This book is an extensive empirical examination of the risk of smoking. Viscusi focusses on illuminating the process of choosing to smoke or not. He assesses available information and public perceptions of risk on smoking behavior. He provides insight into who smokes and why, and into the role of risk-communication efforts in this outcome.

Speedy Disposition: Monetary Incentives and Policy Reform in Criminal Courts. By Thomas W. Church and Milton Heumann. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992. $14.95(p), $44.50(hc).

This book provides insight into the debate over using the market to regulate. Church and Heumann assess a new approach to improving the criminal justice system, the Speedy Disposition Program, which uses monetary incentives to speed up disposition of criminal cases. The study analyzes this type of market incentive as a new type of policy tool. This book may be of interest not only for its analysis of an innovative criminal justice program, but also for its implications for the innovative design of policy tools as well.

Financing Home Care: Improving Protection for Disabled Elderly People. Edited by Diane Rowland and Barbara Lyons. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.

This edited volume was organized as an effort to accumulate data on the organization and financing of current home care policy. The book is divided into four sections focussing on the demographics and financing, eligibility and benefits, lessons from current programs, and prescriptions for policy. This book is of interest to those studying policy options for long-term care.

Emerging Issues in Biomedical Policy, Volume II. Edited by Robert H. Blank and Andrea L. Bonnicksen. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. $45.00(cl).

The second volume of an annual review, this edition is devoted to two policy areas: authority in medical decision making and biomedical experimentation. The analysis of these two issues supports three developing trends in biomedical policy, the increasing political nature of medicine, the increasing skepticism of medical technology, and increasing institutionalization of biomedical policy. This is a useful volume for those researchers interested in the changing nature of health politics.

Health Policy and the Hispanic. Edited by Antonio Furino. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. $36.50(hc).

Pulling from a wide range of research, this volume provides background data for assessing the impact of health policy on Hispanics. Data is presented which details the specific medical, economic, and social needs of Hispanics with regards to health policy. Policy prescriptions also are provided for improving the health of Hispanics based on these unique needs.

Management of Hazardous Agents, Volume 1 & 2. Edited by Duane G. LeVine and Arthur C. Upton. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992. $49.95 (each volume).

Volume 1 is devoted to research on the exposure of particular hazardous substances and the effect of exposure on humans. Volume 2 is devoted to institutional and legislative changes, risk communication, and the role of the public in risk assessment. The volumes provide insight into deficiencies in research and prescribe areas of institutional and legislative change that must occur with regards to the management of hazardous substances, such as a greater emphasis on prevention, increased coordination between agencies and levels of government, greater public involvement, and use of better incentives.

Decision-Making on Public Goods: An Exploration into the Borderland of Politics and Economics. By Gert de Bruin. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis, 1991. 361 p.

Arguing that the allocation of public goods is the domain of both economics and politics, de Bruin seeks to expand the role of played by political scientists in understanding this domain. His main focus involves an evaluation of economic propositions regarding decisionmaking on public good in terms of relevance for practical politics. De Bruin concludes that economic theories in this area have produced few directly usable results and future theorizing must include closer attention to the role of institutions.

The Moral Dimensions of Public Policy Choice: Beyond the Market Paradigm. Edited by John Martin Gillroy and Maurice Wade. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 1992. $49.95 (c), $19.95 (p), 529 p.

This volume strives to provide a systematic treatment of normative political analysis of public policy issues. The authors stress that no policy is value-free and that normative premises help determine practical effectiveness. The book includes 22 essays by authors such as Mark Sagoff, Steven Kelman, and Stephen Elkin.

History and Context in Comparative Public Policy. Edited by Douglas E. Ashford. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992. $44.95, 365 p.

Springing from a conference on comparative public policy held at the University of Pittsburgh, the essays in this volume use case studies and historical analysis to highlight the importance of the political context for understanding public policy realities. The editor divides the chapters into three main sections focusing on time, context, and agency.

Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion. By Anthony Downs. Washington: The Brookings Institution and Cambridge: The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1992. 210 p.

Following an analysis of the causes of traffic congestion, Downs evaluates the potential economic and political impacts and effectiveness of current policy proposals addressing this issue. Despite worsening congestion, Downs asserts that the problem has not become severe enough to prompt to force policymakers and citizens to accept the changes necessary to reduce the problem.

The Nature of Politics: Selected Essays of Bertrand de Jouvenel. Edited by Dennis Hale and Marc Landy. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1992 (Originally published New York: Schocken Books, 1987). $21.95, 306 p.

Amounting to only fraction of de Jouvenel's output of essays, the articles in this collection aim at uncovering and expanding the obscure 20th Century thinker's themes included in his masterworks. Of particular interest to policy scholars is de Jouvenel's desire to reduce human suffering and ecological damage combined with his embracement of the market system.

The Politics of Radioactive Waste Disposal. By Ray Kemp. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. $59.95 (c), $19.95 (p), 196 p.

Kemp analyzes radioactive waste disposal policies across the U.S., Canada, and several European nations, with special attention devoted to the U.K. His primary objective lies in the discovery of factors that inhibit the "legitimate, and publicly acceptable solutions" (p. 9).

Assessing Governmental Performance: An Analytical Framework. By Eugene J. Meehan. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. $47.95, 216 p.

Through the development of a theory of knowledge, Meehan hopes to provide a methodology to evaluate government performance. He outlines the role of key actors in government assessment and ways to overcome obstacles. Finally, Meehan argues that consistent evaluation is essential to the improvement of public sector behavior and policy outcomes.

Urban Political Economy: Broward County, Florida. By Ronald K. Vogel. Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 1992. $24.95, 176 p.

This case study employs a political economy approach to local politics in the hope of overcoming the deadlock created by the pluralist/elitist debate. The author explores dynamics of business-government relations first within Broward County, Florida then turns to broader questions of systematic bias in policymaking. Finally, Vogel offers a typology of ideal regime type based on business-government interaction.

Science Funding: Politics and Porkbarrel. By Joseph P. Martino. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1992. $32.95, 392 p.

Tracing the origins of porkbarrel science budgeting to 1983 and noting the rapid expansion special interest and district specific based appropriations, Martino argues the current situation has reached crisis proportions. This analysis outlines the history of science funding, the causes and consequences of the current situation, and offers prescriptions to eliminate the problems inherent in porkbarrel science.

Who Benefits from the Nonprofit Sector? Edited by Charles T. Clotfelter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. $22.95, 304 p.

The articles in this compilation distributional equity in the provision of services by private nonprofit organizations. Addressing health, cultural, social service, religious, and educational organizations, the authors conclude that the beneficiaries are a function of the type of service. The authors also address implications for tax and social policy.

Empowerment: The Politics of Alternative Development. By John Friedmann. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1992. 196 p.

Friedmann acts to fill what he perceives as void in policies aimed at relieving poverty throughout the world. He argues that mainstream approaches to international social policy are doomed to failure and the only hope lies in developmental policies centered around democracy, equality for women, and social and ecological sustainability.

Privatizing Correctional Institutions. Edited by Gary W. Bowman, Simon Hakim, and Paul Seidenstat. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1993. 246 p.

The central debate of this volume addresses the use of public versus private organizations for the construction and management of prisons. The authors generally agree that given the right circumstances privatization can offer advantages. The key is designing public and inmate safeguards in the contracting phase and effective public monitoring.

Regulating Unfair Trade. By Pietro S. Nivola. Washington: Brooking Institution, 1993. $31.95, 190 p.

Nivola claims that increased trade regulation stems not from a response to increasing trade obstacles, but rather due to internal political pressures. He argues that in its current form trade regulation bears to much of the burden for reducing economic imbalances. Instead trade policy must compliment a broader domestic economic agenda.