Boomerang: Clinton's Health Security Effort and the Turn Against Government in U.S. Politics.

Abstract

In the 1992 American election campaign, health reform, a popular issue which Bill Clinton and the Democrats concentrated on, became the focus of the most concerted attack on government in recent American history. A year after it had been introduced to general acclaim Clinton's compromise plan lay in ruins. This account, by a prize-winning social scientist, examines the changing terrain of US politics and public policy. Drawing on contemporary documents, media coverage and confidential White House strategy memoranda, it offers insights into the way the Health Security Bill inadvertently became a perfect foil for anti-government mobilization. According to Skocpol, its enemies found it easy to distort while its supporters failed to marshall their forces at a critical time.