"Now that health care policy is again at the top of the U.S. political agenda, this book offers a timely analysis of forces that may help to shape what politicians in Washington, D.C., choose to do. Jacobs is to be commended for his pioneering explanations of the interactions of public opinion, institutional arrangements, and elite decisions in the making of national social policies. While his formulations will arouse controversy as well as simple agreement, they are sure to receive wide notice. And deservedly so."--Theda Skocpol, Harvard University