Narratives of postwar American political development are often stories about policy. As the federal government has expanded, a growing number of political historians and historically oriented political scientists have turned their attention to the passage and implementation of major legislative changes. Yet, as Orren and Skowronek’s book suggests, a narrow focus on individual policy histories has blinded scholars to how policy has changed American government, as well as the relationship of policy to the current crisis in political legitimacy.
Policy, Orren and Skowronek argue, is one mode of governance among others. It is a forward-looking commitment to action. Policymakers think like planners: They set goals, devise means, and define standards of performance. A contrasting mode of governance involves rights—claims that an individual may make in a court of law on other “persons or actions” to “[affirm] or [reclaim] something already due” (29–30). As rights are backward-looking, they can also help...