Good Enough for Government Work: The Public Reputation Crisis in America (And What We Can Do to Fix It) - Couverture souple

Livre 27 sur 65: Chicago Studies in American Politics

Lerman, Amy E.

 
9780226630205: Good Enough for Government Work: The Public Reputation Crisis in America (And What We Can Do to Fix It)
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 022663020X ISBN 13 : 9780226630205
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2019

Synopsis

American government is in the midst of a reputation crisis. An overwhelming majority of citizens—Republicans and Democrats alike—hold negative perceptions of the government and believe it is wasteful, inefficient, and doing a generally poor job managing public programs and providing public services. When social problems arise, Americans are therefore skeptical that the government has the ability to respond effectively. It’s a serious problem, argues Amy E. Lerman, and it will not be a simple one to fix.

With Good Enough for Government Work, Lerman uses surveys, experiments, and public opinion data to argue persuasively that the reputation of government is itself an impediment to government’s ability to achieve the common good. In addition to improving its efficiency and effectiveness, government therefore has an equally critical task: countering the belief that the public sector is mired in incompetence. Lerman takes readers through the main challenges. Negative perceptions are highly resistant to change, she shows, because we tend to perceive the world in a way that confirms our negative stereotypes of government—even in the face of new information. Those who hold particularly negative perceptions also begin to “opt out” in favor of private alternatives, such as sending their children to private schools, living in gated communities, and refusing to participate in public health insurance programs. When sufficient numbers of people opt out of public services, the result can be a decline in the objective quality of public provision. In this way, citizens’ beliefs about government can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with consequences for all. Lerman concludes with practical solutions for how the government might improve its reputation and roll back current efforts to eliminate or privatize even some of the most critical public services.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l?auteur

Amy E. Lerman is professor of public policy and political science at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also associate dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy and codirector of The People Lab at the University of California, Berkeley.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
University of Chicago Press
Date d'édition
2019
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
022663020X
ISBN 13 
9780226630205
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
328
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780226630175: Good Enough for Government Work: The Public Reputation Crisis in America (and What We Can Do to Fix It)

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  022663017X ISBN 13 :  9780226630175
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2019
Couverture rigide