Despite the Odds: The Contentious Politics of Education Reform. By Merilee S. Grindle. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 288p. $55.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

No one argues with the claim that education is a necessary ingredient for any recipe for economic and social development. With higher rates of literacy and numeracy, with more years of schooling, a cornucopia of benefits emerge—from lower birth rates to healthier workers to more autonomous women to more engaged citizens. And yet despite the recognition that everything good comes from education, expanding and reforming public education is a costly and contentious process in all political systems. Scholars and politicians alike are pessimistic that educational reform can be instituted. Given the costs and the conflict, what can explain successful implementation of educational reforms?

Gambling Politics: State Government and the Business of Betting. By Patrick A. Pierce and Donald E. Miller. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004. 240p. $35.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

The traditional wisdom regarding the decision to adopt a lottery was that state policymakers turned to lotteries in an effort to avoid raising taxes. Yet at least one seminal study (Frances Stokes Berry and William Berry, “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis,” American Political Science Review 84 [1990]: 395–415) suggests that such adoptions are most likely when the fiscal health of the state is relatively strong, among other things. These findings present some interesting and somewhat perplexing questions for those who study the gambling industry. If fiscal health of the state does not have a substantial impact on gambling adoptions, why then are the political battles surrounding those adoptions so often framed in terms of revenues? The revenues generated by even the most successful state lotteries and casinos are relatively small when compared to traditional taxes, such as sales and income tax (with the noteworthy exception of Nevada casinos, which have historically generated substantial portions of that state's total revenue). An important area for policy research is whether casinos are being viewed by states primarily as revenue generators or in some other terms. In the case of casinos, much of the discussion in some states has centered on the economic development possibilities of the casino industry.

Authorizing Policy. By Thad Hall. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2004. 147p. $41.95.

In the complex and multilayered world of congressional budgeting, the authorization process attracts less attention than dramatic battles over taxes and deficits or spending bills. The literature on public policymaking rarely puts much emphasis on how and when Congress authorizes programs. Thad Hall's book fills an important gap in these literatures with his insightful analysis of the strategic use of short-term authorizations. He looks at many dimensions of authorizations, including their ability to induce stability by enforcing policy agreements, their relationship to congressional institutions and instrumental behavior by members, and their effect on the policy environment, policy implementation, and congressional oversight.

The Illusion of Public Opinion: Fact and Artifact in American Public Opinion Polls. By George F. Bishop. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004. 223p. $80.00 cloth, $27.95 paper.

With another campaign season behind us, it is not hard to make the case that opinion polls pervade politics. Even casual observers of politics are inundated with polling results from media and academic organizations. But just because surveys are ubiquitous does not mean they are useful. In his book, George Bishop makes the provocative argument that just about every bit of evidence that academics, journalists, and policymakers draw from opinion polls is erroneous. This argument will be controversial—indeed this book is clearly intended to provoke controversy—but the force of evidence that Bishop presents demands to be taken seriously by even the staunchest defenders of opinion polls.

Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatization of Public Space. By Margaret Kohn. New York: Routledge, 2004. 256p. $85.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

In her first book, Radical Space: Building the House of the People (2003), Margaret Kohn analyzed the spatiality of early working-class activism in Italy and developed a sophisticated argument about the conditions for democratic empowerment. In this book, she shifts her attention to the United States. Aside from one chapter on the Wobblies, the focus is on the present. In both books, her emphasis is on the way in which the space for political engagement—“public space”—is constructed, sustained, controlled, or foreclosed. Her overarching theme is that theorists of democracy have paid far too little attention to the spatial conditions for democratic interaction. As she attempts to show in the present book, the privatization of public space—that is, the transformation of once-open downtowns into privately governed business improvement districts, the creation of privately governed gated communities in the suburbs and elsewhere, and the colonization of once-public space by private businesses—tends to insulate people from direct, physical encounters with people who are “different” or who may be attempting to persuade them to think otherwise about political issues. The trend toward privatization is particularly pronounced in the United States, and Kohn's concern here is to show us why we should be concerned about it, as democrats.

Common Waters, Diverging Streams: Linking Institutions and Water Management in Arizona, California, and Colorado. By William Blomquist, Edella Schlager, and Tanya Heikkila. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, 2004. 210p. $70.00 cloth, $30.95 paper.

Water supply and allocation is a problem that has plagued the West for most of its history. Water marketing, a greater emphasis on conservation, and surface water augmentation projects are all methods that have been used to address the problem. Another approach that has been around for quite some time but has been pushed to the forefront in recent years is the idea of conjunctive use management. In its broadest sense, conjunctive use management is simply linking surface and groundwater together and managing them as a common water supply pool. Rather than having one set of groundwater users and one set of surface water users, all are bound together by the need for more water. By doing so, excess surface water can be stored beneath the ground during wet times, and these same users can draw on the underground supply during times of drought. Similarly, the storage will increase the amount of water available underground so that overdraft conditions are diminished. In theory, this means that there will be an overall gain in the amount of water available for all users and that supplies can be managed on a more sustainable basis. In practice, Wiliam Blomquist, Edella Schlager, and Tanya Heikkila point out, existing institutions play a major role in determining the push for conjunctive use management and the form that it takes.

Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise. By Andrew Rich. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 270p. $65.00.

Scholars and parishioners interested in public policy and the nature and quality of decision making in Washington will find Andrew Rich's first book to be an interesting and valuable contribution to the field. While the book focuses on an often-overlooked set of institutions—public policy research organizations—it also explores the current state of policy advice in Washington. These independent, nonprofit organizations have served our nation well by conducting research, analysis, and debate on a wide range of complex public policy issues. Thinks tanks such as the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the RAND Corporation have helped shape the thinking of policymakers for almost a century. Rich contends that their unique role in the policymaking process is now in peril, and he sets out to document how the sea change that has taken place in American politics is reflected in the changing dynamics in the policymaking community in Washington.

Democratic Reform in Africa: The Quality of Progress. Edited by E. Gyimah-Boadi. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2004. 351p. $59.95 cloth, $23.50 paper.

There are fads in political science and in the policy world and the 1990s produced a prominent example: the decade's virtually universal infatuation with democracy. The end of the Cold War seemed to have removed the last remaining impediments to democracy—communist tyranny and subversion—and around the world, humankind's natural inclination toward freedom and equality was expected to be exhibited in heart-warming periodic elections. Or so it seemed. Policymakers celebrated the collapse of authoritarian regimes and welcomed new nations into the community of democracies; political scientists busied themselves with analysis of the mechanics of transitions to democracy, the technicalities of democratic institutions, and the myriad contributions of civil society.

Transnational Identities: Becoming European in the EU. Edited by Richard K. Herrmann, Thomas Risse, and Marilynn B. Brewer. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. 328p. $75.00 cloth, $29.95 paper.

The extent to which people in European countries are becoming more European in their identity is the subject of this very timely book, which presents important new empirical data on the Europeanization of identities. A variety of approaches, ranging from social psychology and political science to ethnographic and discourse analysis, explores the many ways European identities are being transformed. The contributors want to establish the degree to which both citizens and elites identify with Europe and how such forms of identification relate to other identities, in particular, national identities. The aim of the volume is less theoretical and philosophical abstraction than to devise middle-range approaches to measuring transnational identity and to assess its impact and significance.

A Seat of Popular Leadership: The Presidency, Political Parties, and Democratic Government. By Michael J. Korzi. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. 292p. $80.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.

Through an examination of the political biographies and annual messages of selected presidents, Michael Korzi provides a rich description of the rise and decline of party government in the nineteenth century. He persuasively argues that nineteenth-century parties were not mere spoils machines but parties of principles and policies. Moreover, he claims that the model of nineteenth-century party presidents presents an attractive alternative to the detached statesmanship championed by the Founders, as well as the unrestrained popular leadership practiced by twentieth-century presidents.

Terra Incognita: Vacant Land and Urban Strategies. By Ann O'M. Bowman and Michael A. Pagano. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2004. 232 pages. $24.95.

Public policies for vacant land are among the least understood but most important aspects of urban policy and politics. In this book, Ann O'M. Bowman and Michael Pagano highlight important issues regarding such land and offer useful frameworks for understanding the policies and politics that shape its future uses. In doing so, they provide a unique and useful perspective on land use policies and politics, which are a key—if not the key—aspect of local policy and politics.

Political Competition: Theory and Applications. By John E. Roemer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. 352p. $60.00.

John Roemer sets out to slaughter a golden calf of positive political theory: the Downsian model of electoral competition and its famous implication, the median voter theorem. Roemer contends that not only is the premise of the Downsian model—political parties seeking election without policy objectives of their own—historically incorrect, but it also leads to implausible predictions. Throughout political history, he postulates, parties have represented disparate interests and have advocated divergent policies; thus, a model that is premised on the opposite and predicts convergence as the only equilibrium—provided an equilibrium even exists—cannot be the right tool for analyzing politics.

Is Separate Unequal? Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation. By Albert L. Samuels. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. 240p. $34.95.

Does the “affirmative duty” to desegregate, which the Supreme Court found in the public elementary and secondary school cases, extend to higher education systems? If so, what is to be the status of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)? The focal point of this book is the case, United States v. Fordice (1992), in which the Court first addressed this issue. Prior higher-education desegregation cases had dealt with the rights of individual blacks to attend previously all-white state institutions. The author of this valuable volume, Albert Samuels, notes that “the Fordice ruling probably raised more questions than it answered” (p. 3). This book is an erudite exploration of some of these unanswered questions.

The Making of Environmental Law. By Richard J. Lazarus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. 312p. $35.00.

Richard Lazarus brings rich experience to this book. In the 1980s, he served as a litigator in the Environment and Natural Resources Division, and as an assistant to the solicitor general, in the Department of Justice. He has represented environmental groups and local, state, and federal governments in numerous cases before the Supreme Court. Given this extensive legal background, one might expect the book to be a dense treatise on environmental law. Yet it is written for a much broader audience, with an engaging narrative style that is accessible for those not trained as lawyers. It is also interdisciplinary, covering everything from ecological theory in the opening chapters to the historical, economic, and political contexts of environmental law in the United States. While this interdisciplinary effort is admirable, the strength of the book clearly lies in the author's legal interpretations. Political scientists will be less impressed with his discussion of topics like public opinion and interest group behavior. Yet what matters more than relatively minor shortcomings with respect to any one discipline is that Lazarus has produced an engaging and articulate book that strives to reach a broad audience beyond law schools. For this reason, The Making of Environmental Law would make a wonderful addition to upper-division and masters level environmental policy courses. It is not sufficiently theoretical for most doctoral seminars, but it certainly deserves a central location on the shelves of environmental policy scholars.

Separation of Powers in Practice. By Tom Campbell. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. 248p. $55.00 cloth, $21.95 paper.

In his book, Tom Campbell, a former five-term member of Congress, argues that we ought to focus on the “comparative advantage” of each branch because by doing so, we improve the operation of American government. “The thesis of this text is that each branch has inherent advantages: for each branch not to use its advantage and, worse, to allow another branch to encroach upon it dulls the mechanisms of governmental action” (p. 58). After highlighting his case studies in his introduction, in Part One Campbell discusses the advantages of each branch, the rules of the legislative process, the process of statutory construction by courts, and the judicial practice of following precedent. In Part Two he presents 10 case studies, which exemplify his thesis.

Development Projects for a New Millennium. By Anil Hira and Trevor Parfitt. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. 216p. $74.95 cloth, $29.95 paper.

This book fills a vacuum for those interested in development policy and administration. Development administration has been a subfield very much in limbo for the past two decades as the market and civil society have attracted prime interest among development analysts and practitioners. Anil Hira and Trevor Parfitt argue that development assistance agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development, its bilateral counterparts in Europe, and the World Bank, continue to insist on a mode of operation that perpetuates the same weaknesses that were identified in earlier literature on development administration and management. These agencies insist on short time spans for the activities that they fund. They treat these projects as if void of people. They fail to share information with potential beneficiaries. Above all, they do not hold themselves to the same high standards of accountability and transparency that they impose on recipients of their aid. With more and more development activities being carried out by community-based organizations and other nongovernmental bodies, these aid agencies have increasingly become part of the problem, not just the solution. The gap between donor and recipient has simply become too big to overcome.

The Democratic Constitution. By Neal Devins and Louis Fisher. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 303p. $72.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

For more than a quarter century, Louis Fisher has been arguing against court-centered approaches to constitutional studies by showing how constitutional law is “shaped both by judicial and nonjudicial forces,” including the actions of “the elected branches, the states, interest groups, and the general public” (p. vii). Neal Devins joined this effort when he and Fisher coauthored Political Dynamics of Constitutional Law (1992, 1996, 2001). With this latest iteration, their basic storyline is still the same, although they have added new case studies and a new normative argument about why constitution law “should work that way” (p. vii).

Government Matters: Welfare Reform in Wisconsin. By Lawrence M. Mead. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 368p. $35.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

One of the most challenging aspects of welfare reform was that it made policy evaluation more difficult, especially after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 allowed states to shift from operating federal public assistance programs (or variants under waiver authority) to implementing programs of their own design. Analysts accustomed to studying a relatively stable set of nationally comparable social programs had to begin asking new, and sometimes startlingly basic, questions about the kinds of benefits that state and local governments were providing, to whom they were providing them, and on what basis. As a result, research on U.S. poverty and welfare reliance suffered a major setback at precisely the time when the need to track policy outcomes became especially critical.

The City at Stake: Secession, Reform and the Battle for Los Angeles. By Raphael J. Sonenshein. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 328p. $39.50.

Unlike any other city in recent years, Los Angeles has been the subject of grand theorizing in urban studies, so much so that many write of an “L.A. school” of urban theory. With its sprawl, smog, postindustrial economy, and postmodern architecture, this California city is often presented as an ideal-type representation of urbanized, globalized dystopia. While some of the studies of the L.A. school are useful, they are too often impressionistic and imprecise, pitched at an unsatisfying level of abstraction. In contrast, Raphael Sonenshein's detailed and empirical study is a useful and refreshing antidote, and when paired alongside his 1993 book, Politics in Black and White, serves as the definitive account of the city's political history since the 1970s.

Political Parties After Communism: Developments in East-Central Europe. By Tomáš Kostelecký. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2002. 240p. $25.95.

Political Parties in New Democracies: Party Organization in Southern and East-Central Europe. By Ingrid van Biezen. New York: Palgrave, 2003. 256p. $69.95.

Much previous work on political parties and party systems in new democracies has examined them as a means to democratic consolidation and regime stability. Two new studies seek to give finer-grain comparative analysis of party development in the relatively successful new democracies of Southern and East Central Europe. Tomáš Kostelecký's Political Parties After Communism aims to give a broad overview of the development of party politics in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Kostelecký first outlines the historical evolution of parties in the four cases from the midnineteenth century until the collapse of communism and then gives a detailed survey of the development of parties and electoral politics between 1989 and 2002. Subsequent chapters take a more thematic approach, reviewing and synthesizing a range of research to assess the impact of political culture, historical legacies, social cleavages, and the institutional “rules of the game” on party development. A concluding chapter weights these different factors and seeks to highlight broader trends across the region. These are then contrasted with current patterns of party development in Western Europe.