Means, Motives, and Opportunities: How Executives and Interest Groups Set Public Policy
Feb 2024 · Cambridge University Press
Ebook
283
Pages
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Means, Motives, and Opportunities illuminates how states spend public money through the lens of governmental structure, executive power, and interest group competition. Christian Breunig and Chris Koski argue that policymaking is a function of not only policymakers' means (powers), but of their motives (issues) and opportunities (interest group competition) for change. Using over twenty-five years of data across all fifty US states, four in-depth case studies, and multiple examples of budget battles, the book describes a budget-making environment in which governors must balance the preferences of interest groups with their own, all while attempting to build a budget that roughly balances. While governors are uniquely powerful, the range of changes they can make is largely impacted by interest group competition. By showing how means, motives, and opportunities matter, the book shows how spending decisions at the state level influence nearly every aspect of American life.
About the author
Christian Breunig is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Konstanz and Director of the German Policy Agendas project. He has received three awards from the American Political Science Association and was a policy fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in 2022–23.
Chris Koski is Professor of Political Science and Daniel B. Greenberg Chair of Environmental Studies at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He chaired the Public Policy (2022–23) and Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (2020–23) sections of the American Political Science Association and is the co-author of The Real World of American Politics: A Documentary Introduction (2022).
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
