Experiencing Politics makes an important contribution to several different literatures in a crisp, engaging style. Although many excellent studies of the policy-making process in health care have appeared in recent years, few have cast such a wide net. John McDonough melds his firsthand experiences as a Massachusetts state legislator with a careful consideration of agenda building, representation, legislative behavior, and theories of policy change. Each chapter begins with a theoretical framework that is then applied to a case or set of issues. Drawing upon the work of Hannah Pitkin, E. E. Schattschneider, and Deborah Stone, McDonough illustrates how policy makers frame, claim, and debate significant health-policy issues. The book offers the reader an insider’s perspective on the policy-making process from the rigors of campaigning to backroom negotiations over legislation and leadership positions. McDonough believes that “politics, at its core, is about relationships” and argues that “one should never forget that at the heart of the process rests the ability to make people believe a candidate, and in the process, believe more in themselves” (45). The importance of building and maintaining relationships is a central theme of the book. McDonough brings a diverse set of perspectives to bear on the subject, from Edmund Burke to contemporary principal-agent theories. He views representation as a “subset of a much broader, dynamic relationship” that can be modeled using agency theory. The chapter on relationships discusses various options for controlling agents’ behavior, illustrating key points with examples drawn from Medicaid and managed care, and an intriguing discussion of campaign finance reform. McDonough also explores how legislators cultivate relationships with principals as a means of acquiring, and subsequently using, formal leadership positions. McDonough observes that “representation, while important, is secondary to the power and requirements of relationships at all levels. The bond between voter and elected official, while vitally important, is only one of many to be balanced by the public official” (168). The growing popularity of rational choice models over the past two decades has led many political scientists to adopt, implicitly or explicitly, 318 Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook Reviews Alexander Heard Jasper Shannon The Costs of Democracy. Alexander Heard Money and Politics. Jasper Shannon Money, Politics, and Public Reporting. Herbert E. Alexander E. E. SchattschneiderE. E. Schattschneider Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Politics Volume 23, Number 2May, 1961 Sponsored by the Southern Political Science Association Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2126716 Views: 2Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

I want to sketch a line of reasoning about politics, a way of looking at politics. Every point of view must stand on its own legs; it is not something that can be proved. An analysis is a way of looking at something, a way of seeing something we could not see before we made it. We adopt a point of view because it is suggestive and persuasive in its own inner logic.More specifically, I want to examine politics as a strategic concept. The concept of political strategy is itself a point of view loaded with implications for the study of politics.Strategy is the heart of politics, as it is of war.What are the implications of the concept? Any strategy of politics assumes that there is something that we can do about politics, that we have choices, and that what we think and do and want makes a difference. It assumes that we have something to talk about and that what we think and say and do is likely to have consequences. Without these conditions there can be no political strategy.

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Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. Edited by Paul T. David, Malcolm Moos, and Ralph M. Goldman. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. 5 vols. Pp. xxii, 256; xi, 369; xi, 363; xi, 344; xi. 298. Each vol. $3.50. - Volume 49 Issue 1

I hesitate to single out one part of the book for praise, because it is of uniform excellence. However, the final section seemed to me to be the most illuminating and helpful reading on general tax policy that I have encountered. The chapter on the judicial process is a remarkably lucid commentary on the role of the courts in the evolution of our tax system. The chapter, &dquo;The Unfinished Task,&dquo; treats with uncommon sanity the effects of our tax system upon our economic and social

struction.&dquo; There are curious inconsistencies in the book. After castigating interdepartmental courses, the author devotes a full and enthusiastic chapter to a description of the course he has directed at Northwestern. After criticizing large classes he states &dquo;attendance at these lectures averaged from one to two thousand persons each week.&dquo; Few would take exception to his generalizations as to the desirable direction