The Politics of Major Policy Reform in Postwar America examines the politics of recent landmark policy in areas such as homeland security, civil rights, health care, immigration and trade, and it does so within a broad theoretical and historical context. By considering the politics of major programmatic reforms in the United States since the Second World War - specifically, courses of action aimed at dealing with perceived public problems - a group of distinguished scholars sheds light not only on significant efforts to ameliorate widely recognized ills in domestic and foreign affairs but also on systemic developments in American politics and government. In sum, this volume provides a comprehensive understanding of how major policy breakthroughs are achieved, stifled, or compromised in a political system conventionally understood as resistant to major change.

1. Introduction: the rise of a policy state? Jeffery A. Jenkins and Sidney M. Milkis; 2. The long 1950s as a policy era David R. Mayhew; 3. Litigation and reform Sean Farhang; 4. Courts and agencies in the American civil rights state R. Shep Melnick; 5. The politics of labor policy reform Dorian T. Warren; 6. Teachers unions and American education reform: the power of vested interests Terry M. Moe; 7. Progressive federalism and the contested implementation of Obama's health reform Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol; 8. Federalism and the politics of immigration reform Carol M. Swain and Virginia M. Yetter; 9. Trade politics and reform Judith Goldstein; 10. The politics of intelligence reform Richard H. Immerman; 11. Follow the leader: major changes to homeland security and terrorism policy Jennifer L. Merolla and Paul Pulido; 12. Conclusion: Madison upside down: the policy roots of our polarized politics Paul Pierson.