Dead on Arrival

The Politics of Health Care in Twentieth-Century America

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Medical, Reference, Health Policy, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book Dead on Arrival by Colin Gordon, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Colin Gordon ISBN: 9781400825677
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: January 10, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Colin Gordon
ISBN: 9781400825677
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: January 10, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

Why, alone among industrial democracies, does the United States not have national health insurance? While many books have addressed this question, Dead on Arrival is the first to do so based on original archival research for the full sweep of the twentieth century. Drawing on a wide range of political, reform, business, and labor records, Colin Gordon traces a complex and interwoven story of political failure and private response. He examines, in turn, the emergence of private, work-based benefits; the uniquely American pursuit of "social insurance"; the influence of race and gender on the health care debate; and the ongoing confrontation between reformers and powerful economic and health interests.

Dead on Arrival stands alone in accounting for the failure of national or universal health policy from the early twentieth century to the present. As importantly, it also suggests how various interests (doctors, hospitals, patients, workers, employers, labor unions, medical reformers, and political parties) confronted the question of health care--as a private responsibility, as a job-based benefit, as a political obligation, and as a fundamental right.

Using health care as a window onto the logic of American politics and American social provision, Gordon both deepens and informs the contemporary debate. Fluidly written and deftly argued, Dead on Arrival is thus not only a compelling history of the health care quandary but a fascinating exploration of the country's political economy and political culture through "the American century," of the role of private interests and private benefits in the shaping of social policy, and, ultimately, of the ways the American welfare state empowers but also imprisons its citizens.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Why, alone among industrial democracies, does the United States not have national health insurance? While many books have addressed this question, Dead on Arrival is the first to do so based on original archival research for the full sweep of the twentieth century. Drawing on a wide range of political, reform, business, and labor records, Colin Gordon traces a complex and interwoven story of political failure and private response. He examines, in turn, the emergence of private, work-based benefits; the uniquely American pursuit of "social insurance"; the influence of race and gender on the health care debate; and the ongoing confrontation between reformers and powerful economic and health interests.

Dead on Arrival stands alone in accounting for the failure of national or universal health policy from the early twentieth century to the present. As importantly, it also suggests how various interests (doctors, hospitals, patients, workers, employers, labor unions, medical reformers, and political parties) confronted the question of health care--as a private responsibility, as a job-based benefit, as a political obligation, and as a fundamental right.

Using health care as a window onto the logic of American politics and American social provision, Gordon both deepens and informs the contemporary debate. Fluidly written and deftly argued, Dead on Arrival is thus not only a compelling history of the health care quandary but a fascinating exploration of the country's political economy and political culture through "the American century," of the role of private interests and private benefits in the shaping of social policy, and, ultimately, of the ways the American welfare state empowers but also imprisons its citizens.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Americans at the Gate by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book On Reading by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Lost Enlightenment by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Political Bubbles by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Speak Freely by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book The Extreme Life of the Sea by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Buddhism in Practice by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Ancient Religions, Modern Politics by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book A Taste for the Beautiful by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Do Animals Think? by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Watch Me Play by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book Proving Woman by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book The War for Afghanistan: A Very Brief History by Colin Gordon
Cover of the book The Culture of Contentment by Colin Gordon
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy