The Bill : How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill [Paperback]

Stephen Waldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

"Skillfully guides us, with an engrossing and provocative tale, through the interplay of Congress and the White House, policy and politics. Must reading for students of American government."—Gary Orren, Harvard Univ. "Full of genuinely juicy details, it is certain to replace Eric Redman's studies in the future."—Charles Peters, Editor in chief, The Washington Monthy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newsweek correspondent Waldman writes a blow-by-blow account of Clinton's National Service Bill as it comes before Congress and collides with a cynical Washington political culture and various special interests.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Despite the pretentious claims made by the title, this is a fine and accessible case study of the legislative process. Journalist Waldman was given the opportunity by his employer, Newsweek, to cover one of Clinton's legislative proposals from campaign idea to signature by the president. He had access to key White House staff and their meetings as well as to those significant members of Congress and their staffs who shepherded the bill through the legislative labyrinth. While Waldman has a somewhat cynical view of the political process that produced the National Service Act, he possesses fine political insight that allows the reader to understand the advantages and disadvantages of compromises in order to achieve one's goals in Washington. Besides making the reader aware of the roles of competing interest groups, the media, congressional representatives, and legislative and executive staffers in shaping the bill, he illuminates Clinton's motivation and political instinct. This contemporary version of Eric Redman's Dance of Legislation (1973) is highly recommended for popular political science collections.
Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Upd edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140233040
• ISBN-13: 978-0140233049
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Eh...bleh..., October 27, 2002

By 

Fizzy: the real one "bobthephat" (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bill : How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill (Paperback)

The story itself isn't a very interesting or informative one. The author tries to end chapters with a catchy phrase that is cynical/humorous/meaningful, but they rarely come off well. Journalistic style, if you like reading a 250 page news article, then you'll love it, but if you have a hard enough time getting through the lead of a front page article in the "New York Time," then don't bother.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars pretty good, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bill : How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill (Paperback)

Steven Waldman does an excellent job of explaining the substantive issues surrounding the national service bill and its corollary, student aid reform, and showing how conflicting ideals were reconciled or submerged. The detail gets a bit tedious in the last chapter, but the book does live up to its subtitle. Johnson & Broder's "The System," about the 1994 health care reform campaign, is a longer but more exciting book along the same lines.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into all that happens in Congress and why, April 18, 1999

By 

Lawrence Dietrich ([e-mail]) (Charleston, South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bill : How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill (Paperback)

Great look at all the inside games that must take place for a bill to pass Congress. Who switches sides, who you can trust, who stabs whom in the back at the last moment. Any AmeriCorps member should read this to get a perspective of all that went into creating the program that you were a part of. Made me realize why things are the way they are in a program that has stived to do so much for our country and the young people in it.