AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, Alan S. Murray ISBN: 0-394-75811-0 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: April, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 3.29

Rating: 5
Summary: awesome
Comment: the best book I was ever required to read for a class

Rating: 4
Summary: Still the best case study of congressional decision making
Comment: Tax laws may have changed, some of the main actors are serving jail time, but it doesn't matter. This is the best case study of congressional decision making available. I still use this in courses because there is no better example of the tension between political horse trading and genuine reformist impulses available.

Is it detailed? Of course it is: the back and forth in the Ways and Means committee, for example, illustrates the kind of negotiaions that are the bread and butter of policy making.

Is there material that is "in the encyclopedia?" That is silly. There is little there that is basic review. In fact, anyone who found this boring probably does not know the basics of congressional procedures -- that is not the goal of this book -- or has a professor or teacher who does not know how to link a journalistic case study like this with the textbook or scholarly treatment of Congress.

A classic.

Rating: 4
Summary: Too detailed? That's where the devil is...
Comment: While this book may not appeal to students in search of the CliffNotes version of the political process, this exhaustive account of the1986 tax reform bill gets a complicated story just about right. Especially when it concerns the tax code, the devil is in the details, and while B&M sometimes go a little overboard in describing the small print of oil depletion allowances and the like, the fact is that Congressmen think that way -- and voters had better know it. All in all, a solid addition to the 'how a bill becomes a law' ouevre. Plus, it makes you like an odd array of people: Ronald Reagan, Bill Bradley, and even Bob Packwood. Where are they now?... END

Similar Books:

	Title: Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership over Two Centuries (Transforming American Politics (Paper)) by Roger H. Davidson, Susan Webb Hammond, Raymond W. Smock ISBN: 0813368952 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $40.00
	Title: Seeking the Center: Politics and Policymaking at the New Century by Martin A. Levin, Marc K. Landy, Martin M. Shapiro ISBN: 0878408673 Publisher: Georgetown University Press Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95
	Title: Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering by Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox ISBN: 1568023928 Publisher: CQ Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $29.95
	Title: After Disaster: Agenda Setting, Public Policy and Focusing Events (American Governance and Public Policy) by Thomas A. Birkland ISBN: 0878406530 Publisher: Georgetown University Press Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $24.95
	Title: The Logic of Congressional Action by R. Douglas Arnold ISBN: 0300056591 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: August, 1992 List Price(USD): $20.00