The Path of American Public Policy: Comparative Perspectives demonstrates how ideas and institutions influence public policy formation in the United States. This book presents comparative cases of when comprehensive change in the United States failed and when it succeeded and compares and contrasts the American presidential system to the British parliamentary system.

PrefaceChapter 1: Of Ideas and Institutions: The Foundational Tension of American DemocracyIntroductionWhy Does American Government Appear to Be Spinning Its Wheels?The Foundational Tension: Majority Rule versus Minority RightsHow the Foundational Ideational Tension Limits Innovative Policy Development: Ideas Conceptualized as Cognitive LocksConclusionStructure of the Remainder of the BookChapter 2: The Path of Political Development in Great Britain and the United States: A BriefComparative HistoryWhy American Government Operates under Checks and Balances, and British Government Does NotThe Evolution of the British ParliamentKey Institutional Features of British DemocracyThe Creation of the American Presidential SystemKey Institutional Features of American DemocracyConclusionChapter 3: Agenda Setting and Agenda Control: Case One: A Legislative History of the 1994Republican Contract with AmericaThe 1994 Contract with AmericaIntroduction to the 104th CongressThe Framers' Fears of the Tyranny of the Majority and the 1994 Republican Contract with AmericaBackground: Where Did the Contract Come From?The Contract with AmericaThe First Hundred Days of the 104th CongressAmerican Congress Function Differently than the British ParliamentChapter 4: Agenda Setting and Agenda Control: Case Two: The 2008-2010 Battle over Health CareIntroductionBackgroundAgenda Setting and Agenda ControlCongress's Turn: Policy Formation and LegitimationWelcome (Again) to the World of Checks and BalancesConclusion: Lessons from the PastChapter 5: What if American Democracy Were on a Different Path?How a British-Style Parliamentary System Could Change American PoliticsHow American Political Development Could Have Been on a Different PathHow Selected Election Outcomes Might Have Been DifferentChapter 6: Conclusion: Ideas and Institutions MatterProblem One: Divided GovernmentProblem Two: GridlockProblem Three: No Means to Quickly Replace a Failed or Deadlocked AdministrationSome Possible Solutions?Ideas and Institutions MatterBibliographyAbout the Authors