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Nine observers describe and assess the performance of state political institutions and processes, including their standing in the recent 1990 recession. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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CHOICE Review

In Van Horn's (Rutgers) collection of essays commissioned by the Eagleton Institute, leading scholars of state politics provide balanced critical assessments of changes in state institutions and processes. Reapportionment, enhanced electoral competition, more active and diverse interest groups, and federal budget cutbacks stimulated institutional reform, increased taxation, and policy innovation, thereby making the states central policymakers in the system. These themes parallel those set forth in Ann Bowman and Richard Kearney's The Resurgence of the States (1986). Richard Nathan explains current state strength in the context of a cyclical theory of federalism. Thad Beyle, Alan Rosenthal, and Lawrence Baum detail institutional capabilities and increased activism in the governorship, legislatures, and judiciaries, respectively. All find increasing conflicts among the branches, and William Gormley describes their battles over custody of the bureaucracy. Samuel Patterson finds party persistence, but Barbara and Stephen Salmore emphasize candidate-centered politics. Van Horn concludes that increased capability and individual responsiveness are balanced by increased conflict and reduced institutional responsibility. Recommended for undergraduate libraries and courses. -D. I. Hodgkin, Bates College