That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century [Hardcover]

Steven M. Gillon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

An investigation into the chasm between the good intentions of legislators and the results of their legislation. Gillon discusses welfare policy, community mental health reform and immigration acts, and describes the unintended consenqueces of their enactment.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Historian Steven M. Gillon, host of the History Channel's HistoryCenter program, examines how the law of unintended consequences has left its mark on the politics of welfare, mental health, affirmative action, immigration, and campaign finance. On immigration, for example, Gillon describes how a 1965 law to revise admissions procedures wound up opening the floodgates. Senator Ted Kennedy promised the law "will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most overpopulated and economically deprived nations of Africa and Asia." Yet that's pretty close to what actually happened. The huge numbers of immigrants entering the United States today--close to a million legal newcomers annually, and most of them from Asia or Latin America--are a direct result of this reform. And there are many other such examples of good intentions gone awry. As he writes in his introduction, "Congress frequently passes bills that it does not fully understand, that cannot be enforced with any precision, and that are full of loopholes begging for court challenges and conflicting interpretations."

As Gillon points out, conservatives often argue against government programs by citing the law of unintended consequences, though he believes this approach to be somewhat limiting: "At the heart of the problem of unintended consequences in the United States is a paradox: Americans look to Washington for solutions to complex problems, but they are reluctant to give government the power it needs to address most issues." Later, he adds, "I would not want readers to conclude from these examples that we must abandon our efforts to identify social problems or suspend efforts to use government as a positive force for social change." It's not clear all readers will come away from That's Not What We Meant to Do in agreement--some may begin to think a "do-nothing Congress" might be a good thing--but they'll certainly learn to expect the unexpected. Consider this a public-policy version of Edward Tenner's book Why Things Bite Back. It should be required reading on Capitol Hill. --John J. Miller

From Library Journal

Gillon (dean of Honors Coll., Univ. of Oklahoma; The Democrats' Dilemma) takes a balanced look at the mixed record of American government activism since the New Deal. He describes the good intentions, tangled legislative history, and unexpected results of such cornerstones of the liberal regulatory state as the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill, affirmative action, and campaign finance reform. These grandiose plans for social engineering foundered largely because Americans expect much from the federal government but are unwilling to grant it the time, authority, or resources to tackle problems in a thoughtful, comprehensive way. Though decrying the bureaucracy and unintended results of liberal social policy, Gillon does not think that the conservative impulse to make no effort to solve social problems is the answer. He urges instead that we continue to experiment while being aware of the potential for unforeseen problems. Gillon concludes that "results we do not like should produce humility, not despair." Recommended for public and academic libraries.DDuncan Stewart, State Historical Society of Iowa Lib., Iowa City
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393048845
• ISBN-13: 978-0393048841
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #959,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a reader from Dallas, Tx, July 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

This book should be required reading for all politicians (and would be politicians). A thoughtful, exceptionally well-written, and balanced look at how legislation often strays from original intent. A great read. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn about American government and politics.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Study of Unintended Consequeces!, December 11, 2002

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

It's a shame that most politicans haven't read this book because if they did, many of the same mistakes so astutely pointed out in it would not have been repeated (to the tee) during this new 'push' for Homeland Security (with a capital H and S.)

All modern references aside, Mr. Gillon has done us a service in writing a book that even-handedly deals with unintended consequences of certain past legislation in the hopes that we may avoid them in the future. Looking at failed welfare, immigration, affirmative action, mental health and campaign finance legislation, Gillon presents us with an educational (and mildly entertaining) lesson: LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!!!

But here's the problem; Gillon never quite sums it up. Reading through each chapter examining its respective reform, Gillon tells these tales AS tales without ever writing "and the moral of the story is..." The underlying problems leading to unintended consequences, although many in truth, boil down to a few basics. The problem of legislation 'modification' by special interest, the problem of congressional group-think (we should all be worried when a bill passes by a huge margin), the problem of new legislation clashing with old legislation not thought of or any varying social factor that was not accounted for, and poor implementation due to open-ended, sticky language in the bill leading to multiple 'interpretations.' Indeed, all of these are present in the book, but Gillon gives us history ONLY, at the expense of the book containing a thesis and possible argument.

Of course, if one wants to explore unintended consequences, one could read Thomas Sowell's "Vision of the Annointed" and "Knowledge and Decisions" or any one of Friedrich Hayek's books. Still, despite Gillons minor (and I guess it is rather minor) flaw, this book is an excellent presentation of how legislation fails; just not why it fails.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening views on reform, November 8, 2000

By 

"kangarex" (Keokuk, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: That's Not What We Meant to Do: Reform and Its Unintended Consequences in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

This author really knows his legislative history - and how to make it readable to the novice. His tracing of a number of the "great reforms" - welfare, community based mental health care, equal oppotunity, etc. and where the best intentions of legislation actually took us is a real eye-opener.

He also manages to be notably even-handed, although it is noticeable where his sympathies lie. Both my father and I (at opposite ends of the political spectrum) enjoyed it greatly.