Smoking and Politics: Bureaucracy Centered Policymaking (6th Edition) (Real Politics in America Series)

• Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making, Revised Edition
• A Practical Guide For Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path To More Effective Problem Solving
• The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What to Make of It
• Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics
• The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, Second printing with new preface and appendix (Harvard Economic Studies)

In recent years there have been many legislative and legalistic transformations since Fritschler began this book (first edition). This book is commonly read, studied, and dissected at some point in a public administration student's college stint. Compromising, steps forward and back, lobbying, and watershed legislation are presented here highlighting the individuals and organizations involved. (The who, what, how, why, and where.) It's what I call "Machiavellian bureaucratic implementation of policy." Those doing research into the historical politics of smoking, and/or the public policy process involving smoking in particular will get a lot of facts from this.


5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Good info, but disorganized, 1998-10-14
Federal policy with regard to tobacco has undergone substantial change over the past thirty years. Fritschler and Hoefler have regularly updated their book, to include these new changes. Unfortunately for them, the mid- to late-1990s has seen a whole new series of proposals, which means a two year old book is already somewhat out of date.

Also, with each new edition, they've tried to maintain the general organization of their earlier editions. This means the fifth edition tells a somewhat disjointed story. The book jumps repeated from the 1960s to the 1970s to the 1980s and 1990s, then back again. Often, this leaves the reader confused as to exactly *when* a particular change occurred.

The book's strongest point is that it clearly illustrates the importance of the bureaucracy in making [not just implementing] public policy. Many policy texts present the mistaken impression that Congress makes policy and the bureaucracy implements policy. Fritschler and Hoefler do policy students a great service by demonstrating the importance of the federal rulemaking process, and the ability of an activist bureaucracy to make or motivate substantial changes in federal policy.