Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

When the federal government uses an intermediary to produce goods or services rather than directly administers a program itself, it has used ``government by proxy.'' Specific methods of proxy include contracting, making grants to state or local government, tax expenditures, loans, and regulation. Political scientist Kettl analyzes each strategy with well-publicized instances of failure (the ``Sergeant York'' gun, the Community Development Block Grant Program, tax expenditures, federal student loans, and the Arrow Air charter crash). The case portrayals of each incident are dramatic, and Kettl dissects the crucial elements for lessons that would improve management of proxy production. However, some experts do not consistently agree that all these illustrations are clear failures, and many analysts would not accept all lines of causation that Kettl hypothesizes. Those disputes notwithstanding, Kettl prescribes the solution that would correct problems created by proxy production: increase interdependence between the federal government and its proxies to achieve better alignment of goals and to improve feedback on effects to the federal government. Kettl's discussion is nontechnical and easily accessible to the undergraduate.-J.L. Mikesell, Indiana University-Bloomington