Reversals of Fortune: Public Policy and Private Interests
By (Author) Gary Mucciaroni
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Brookings Institution
1st December 1994
United States
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Political economy
Political structure and processes
330.973
Paperback
240
Width 152mm, Height 229mm
In this book, Gary Mucciaroni compares and contrasts four policy areas-tax incentives, anti-competitive regulations, trade barriers, and agricultural subsidies-where it is possible for interest groups to gain substantial benefits while paying little of the costs. He finds that the fortunes of these groups vary considerably across policies and over time. In explaining these patterns, Mucciaroni argues that interest group fortunes are not shaped so much by the interest groups themselves or their political activities, but rather by what he calls the "issue and institutional contexts." The kinds of issues that become salient, how they are defined in policy debates, and the different institutional arrangements for making policy choices all have a powerful impact on group fortunes. The comparative case study approach allows the author to build generalisations about the relationship between issues, institutions, interests, and policy without sacrificing the rich and nuanced insights found in single case studies.
"Gary Mucciaroni is associate professor of political science at Temple University. He is a former research fellow of the Brookings Institution and the author of The Political Failure of Employment Policy: 1945-1982 (University of Pittsbur"