Transatlantic Policymaking in an Age of Austerity ─ Diversity and Drift

As is evident from the title of their collection, Levin (political science, Brandeis U.) and Shapiro (law, U. of California at Berkeley) believe policy drift and an "age of austerity" generally characterize the public policy milieu of Europe and North America (although little explanation is provided for the latter characterization). However, they recognize that considerable diversity does exist within that broad characterization, and it is those that are the true subject of the nine chapters they present, in which the authors offer comparative examinations of transatlantic developments in health policy, public pension regimes, labor force participation, immigration reform, disability rights, risk regulation, environmental policy, administrative reform, and corporate governance. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Martin A. Levin is a professor of political science and founding director of the Gordon Public Policy Center at Brandeis University, author ofAfter the Cure: Managing AIDS and other Public Health Crises, and coeditor ofThe New Politics of Policymaking.

Martin Shapiro is James W. and Isabel Coffroth Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Both are coeditors ofSeeking the Center: Politics and Policymaking at the New Century.