Unbroken Government Success and the Illusion of Failure in Policymaking [Hardcover]

Unbroken Government demonstrates how institutional and electoral characteristics present since the writing of the Constitution influence policy development. Utilizing policy areas as diverse as human spaceflight, clean air, homeland security, and foreign policy, this work shows how these patterns manifest themselves in the policymaking process.1. Institutions and Policy 2. The Institutional-Policy Cycle 3. Human Spaceflight and Clean Air Policy 4. A Tale of Two Chambers 5. Executives and Policy 6. Bureaucratic Influence and Discretion 7. Something Old, Something New, Something Federal 8. A Path Forward

Whitman Cobb makes a compelling case for adopting an institutional perspective to the public policy cycle forum. She argues that our national political institutions respond differentially during distinct phases of the policy cycle. Adopting a multiple methods approach, she presents considerable evidence supporting her novel argument. Written in a conversational style, this book is accessible for students in undergraduate and graduate public policy courses. The depth of scholarship makes it an important contribution to the scholarly literature. Unbroken Government is a book to be taken very seriously by academic students of American political institutions. - Sean Q Kelly, Professor of Political Science, California State University Channel Islands, USA

Wendy N. Whitman Cobb is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Cameron University, USA. She received her PhD from the University of Florida, USA in 2012. Her studies focus on American institutions and public policy as well as US space policy.