An edition of The political power of bad ideas (2010)

The political power of bad ideas

networks, institutions, and the global prohibition wave

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Last edited by ImportBot
July 22, 2023 | History
An edition of The political power of bad ideas (2010)

The political power of bad ideas

networks, institutions, and the global prohibition wave

In The Political Power of Bad Ideas, Mark Schrad looks on an oddity of modern history-the broad diffusion of temperance legislation in the early twentieth century-to make a broad argument about how bad policy ideas achieve international success. His root question is this: how could a bad policy idea-one that was widely recognized by experts as bad before adoption, and which ultimately failed everywhere-come to be adopted throughout the world? To answer it, Schrad uses an institutionalist approach, and focuses in particular on the US, Russia/USSR (ironically, one of the only laws the Soviets kept on the books was the Tsarist temperance law), and Sweden. Conventional wisdom, based largely on the U.S. experience, blames evangelical zealots for the success of the temperance movement. Yet as Schrad shows, "prohibition was adopted in ten countries other than the United States, as well as countless colonial possessions-all with similar disastrous consequences, and in every case followed by repeal." Schrad focuses on the dynamic interaction of ideas and political institutions, tracing the process through which concepts of dubious merit gain momentum and achieve credibility as they wend their way through institutional structures. And while he focuses on one episode, his historical argument applies far more broadly, and even can tell us a great deal about how today's policy failures, such as reasons proffered for invading Iraq, became acceptable.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
302

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Previews available in: English

Book Details


Table of Contents

The transnational temperance network
American prohibition reconsidered
Avoiding the prohibition pitfall in Sweden
The surprising rise and tenacity of Russian prohibition
International influences on national alcohol policy making
Transnational activism and national policy making.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Published in
Oxford, New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
320.6
Library of Congress
JF1525.P6 S37 2010, JF1525.P6S37 2010

The Physical Object

Pagination
ix, 302 p. :
Number of pages
302

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24519868M
Internet Archive
politicalpowerof0000schr
ISBN 10
0195391233
ISBN 13
9780195391237
LCCN
2009023027
OCLC/WorldCat
373561599

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Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
July 22, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
August 2, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
December 9, 2010 Created by ImportBot initial import