"State legislators are constantly making trade-offs between changing taxes and providing public services. Not only must they reconcile their own policy preferences with the preferences of their constituents, but they must consider the impact of actions taken by the federal government and the policies other states adopt.

Based on a series of in-depth case studies on how legislators in eleven states made decisions dealing with legislation on taxation, economic development, education financing, and Medicaid, Glenn Beamer identifies the principle factors in their decision making."--BOOK JACKET.

"In addition to modeling state politics within the context of federalism, Creative Politics, reflecting the author's extensive interviews with legislators, is novel in its focus on politicians' views about public goods, the strategies to finance them, and efforts to develop and maintain political support for them."--BOOK JACKET.

"Creative Politics will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, economics, and public administration, and, more specifically, of federalism, state politics and policy, and legislative decision making."--BOOK JACKET.