The Politics of Institutional Reform

Reviews / Votes

'A groundbreaking contribution. By creatively leveraging Katrina's impact on New Orleans education reform as a natural experiment, Moe generates fresh insights into the role of power in sustaining poorly performing institutions and sheds new light on society's potential for problem-solving and real reform. A must-read.' Eric M. Patashnik, Brown University, Rhode Island 'Beautifully written, rich in descriptive detail, and propelled by a singular idea, The Politics of Institutional Reform packs a punch. This isn't just a book about education reform. It is a book about all public policy all the time: about how vested-interest power prevents society from fixing its institutions - and how, when that power is swept away, reforms once deemed heretical can become commonplace.' William Howell, University of Chicago 'Terry M. Moe uses the case of Hurricane Katrina to generate fundamental insights into the politics of institutional reform. Moe demonstrates how the 'second face of power' ordinarily allows vested interests to stifle major reform, and shows how institutional politics are transformed when their power is disrupted. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of institutional stability and change - and the challenge of fixing failing institutions.' Eric Schickler, University of California, Berkeley 'Terry M. Moe uses a theorist's insight to cut through the clutter surrounding New Orleans' school transformation. As he shows, smart pragmatists like Paul Pastorek can do sensible things, but only when the guardians of the status quo lose their blocking power. The result is a novel and revealing analysis of how power shapes the prospects for institutional reform.' Paul Hill, Center for Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington