Entitlement politics : medicare and medicaid, 1995-2001 /

Having studied health policy since 1965, Smith (Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Swarthmore College) has written a comprehensive, meticulously researched and solidly referenced account of the political dichotomy between the Democrats and Republicans regarding Medicare and Medicaid. The Republicans' goal was to reduce the size of federal spending for entitlement programs, and the Democrats aimed to keep these programs intact, as proposed by President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Plan in 1965, to provide for the needs of those living in poverty and those in need of low-cost medical care, particularly the elderly and children. Concessions on each side might have enabled them to reach consensus, but that was not to be; each party clung tenaciously to their own beliefs about the place of entitlement programs. The debate continues, but it is on hold because of intervening events and signs of minimal economic recovery, now complicated by the threat of war in the Middle East. The extent of facts from established sources and the unfolding of the tug-of-war between the political parties results in an intriguing and highly informative book. For political scientists and historians, analysts, government administrators, and students of law and politics at all levels. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. A. R. Davis emerita, Johns Hopkins University