Smoking And Politics : Bureaucracy Centered Policy Making

For use as a principal assignment for intermediate-level courses in public policy, public administration, government regulation of the economy, public health, and administrative law and as a supplemental text for introductory courses in American Government.

 The book is designed to help students understand the central role of the bureaucracy in policy-making.  It examines formal rulemaking procedures as well as the informal and political aspects of decisionmaking.  The book considers policymaking as a system including the president, Congress, the courts, private sector actors, state governments, and the Federal bureaucracy.  And, the volume considers questions raised by the extensive role of bureaucracies in policymaking in a democracy

The authors wrote this text to show that bureaucratic decision making is frequently exciting, an important element of political strategy, and potentially momentous in its results.  Not only do many people not realize the scope of the policy making activities of the federal bureaucracy, they do not understand the procedures employed in making that policy and thus have little opportunity to participate meaningfully in bureaucratic policy making.  The authors aim to help students of government understand the importance of this area and make them more effective participants in these processes.  Upon completing this volume, readers will have not only a solid grasp of bureaucratic policy making but also of the political maneuvering that underlies any issue whose outcome will produce winners and losers.

There is very little in American government texts about the role of bureaucracy in policymaking. Public policy in practice rarely fits the structural, formalistic explanations often offered of the making of policy.  Policymaking dynamically crisscrosses levels and branches of government, public and private sectors, and domestic and international boundaries, thus confounding traditional approaches to the teaching of American government.  Smoking and Politics engagingly captures these dynamics as they play out over time.

The new 6th edition is a part of the Paul S. Hernnson (Editor) series Real Politics in America. Recognizing the centrality and complexity of modern bureaucracy and public policymaking, Smoking and Politics helps readers understand how most policy is made in modern governments.  An excellent example of scholarship focused on an important issue in public policy.

“I drew on Smoking and Politics in writing my doctoral dissertation 35 years ago. Now in a thoroughly updated sixth edition, this remarkably successful book dissects a critical public health issue where legislative, regulatory, judicial, and interest group politics intersect. Fritschler and Rudder cut through political pressures and intergovernmental jockeying with clarity and insight, giving particular attention to the often-underestimated role of executive and independent agencies in policy making. “

David Price, Member of Congress, 4th District, North Carolina

“Fritschler and Rudder have done a superb job of weaving together the complexities involved in addressing the number one controllable cause of death in world. They show that good intentions must be supplemented by deep knowledge of political institutions and strategic savvy. This brief volume will be valuable to anyone who wants to understand how policy actually is made.”

            David A. Kessler, M.D.,  former Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug   Administration, Dean, University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine

“A must read for any student of government, Fritschler and Rudder's new edition  of Smoking and Politics: Bureaucracy Centered Policy Making utilizes the tobacco wars as a format to point out the importance of the bureaucracy to solve critical problems and to provide an alternative law making forum. By utilizing the tobacco wars as the central theme, they make the subject interesting and readable.  The book points out the full panoply of bureaucratic processes including regulation, litigation, rule making, researching, and plain old politicking. Fritschler and Rudder have produced an excellent text for students and non-students alike." 

 Judith P. Wilkenfeld, Vice President, International Department, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

“Smoking and Politics” has become an American public policy classic, and a case study that is a must read for any scholar or student interested in how public policy is really made in our national government. This 6th edition of the book updates and provides new perspectives on the dynamic interaction of politicians, business interests, and the nation’s professional bureaucracy.”

Charles F. Bonser, Founding Dean and Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

“Hooray for Fritschler and Rudder!!  This policy making classic keeps getting better--it is an invaluable analysis of the way stalwart bureaucrats and regulators can provide crucial political leadership in this many splendored yet many splintered constitutional system.”

            Thomas E. Cronin, McHugh Professor of  American Institutions and Leadership, Colorado College , author of Government by the People (21st edition, 2005).