Politics by Formula - (Chicago Studies in American Politics) by Leah Rosenstiel (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A clear-eyed study that reveals how politics shapes and often distorts important federal programs, driving inequalities across states.

From Medicaid to Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, a large percentage of the annual US federal budget (approximately $1 trillion) is distributed through grants-in-aid, a policy tool that allocates aid to state and local governments rather than to individual Americans. When members of Congress use grants-in-aid to fund healthcare, housing, and other forms of support, they are not solely determining how much assistance one person receives. Instead, they can allot certain localities larger grants, which carry big implications for the quality of public services available to citizens living in different states.

Many reasonably assume that these assistance programs distribute funding to states impartially because they use statistical formulas based on population levels, poverty, and other characteristics that, ostensibly, measure need. However, in Politics by Formula, Leah Rosenstiel shows how this seemingly technocratic aspect of federal policymaking is deeply affected by both the structure of political institutions and the motivations of elected officials. Key congressional committees--and especially their leaders--design formulas to benefit their constituencies. Superficially neutral formulas can shield these political decisions from scrutiny, but formulas also constrain congressmembers. Drawing on formal modeling and quantitative and qualitative evidence, Rosenstiel elucidates how these dynamics shape whose and what needs are met and where.

Review Quotes

"In the contemporary fog of polarization and gridlock, it can be easy to forget that Congress is, at its heart, an institution that makes policy choices that affect Americans' access to health care, education, housing, safe roads, and more. Rosenstiel's innovative and groundbreaking book documents how trillions of dollars of federal funding are allocated by Congress and explains how the congressional politics behind these decisions affect the day-to-day lives of millions of Americans."

"While many may be unsurprised that politics plays a significant role in grant programs, the new insights Politics by Formula deploys go far beyond what has been previously understood and established. Readers will come away with a clear grasp of the incentives that politicians face in devising and revising grant formulas--and see these incentives playing out in one policy area after another."

"With this book, Rosenstiel fills a major gap in our understanding of federal spending. Using rigorous theoretical and empirical tools, she demonstrates how Congressional Republicans and Democrats use their committee positions to set rates of federal funding that favor their own constituents. The result is a massive federal system of spending that produces unequal benefits and burdens across states. Politics by Formula is the blueprint we all need to make our government more accountable."

About the Author