Choice Review
In this informative, engaging book, Mettler (Cornell Univ.) examines what she terms the "submerged state." Mettler argues that the US has developed a system of policy making that is hidden and indirect, and that extends inordinate privilege to special interests. The result, she argues, is that the public remains unaware of the extent to which they rely on government benefits. Further, given the hidden nature of many of these benefits on which they rely, Americans remain suspicious of both government benefits and the very idea that government can be a force for good. This situation is the result of decades of policy making in which outright benefits programs are avoided. Instead, policy makers have acted through less visible and more indirect incentives and subsidies. Notably, these include the home mortgage interest deduction, the health insurance exemption, and the retirement benefits exemption. Because this type of policy making is largely hidden from view, the public is unable to see the massive advantages given to powerful interests, such as insurance companies and the financial industry. This is an important, well-reasoned, welcome volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. D. R. Imig University of Memphis