The National Origins of Policy Ideas – Knowledge Regimes in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark

"This volume is original. It surpasses other books on the subject by looking at how policy ideas are produced and broadcast, and to what effect. Campbell and Pedersen's concept of 'knowledge regimes' will reengineer our thinking about the underlying ideational mechanisms steering policy and shaping national institutions."--Diane Stone, Murdoch University

"This pathbreaking book challenges how we think about contemporary politics by illuminating the role of 'knowledge regimes' in determining the quality and diversity of policy alternatives on offer. Campbell and Pedersen draw a surprising--and troubling--picture of how policy ideas are hatched and why they vary so greatly across countries. This innovative and lucid book sets a clear agenda for future research."--Frank Dobbin, author of Inventing Equal Opportunity

"A tour de force in breadth and insight. Campbell and Pedersen provide the first empirically grounded study that compares policy-producing institutions across several countries, drawing on a wide reservoir of theoretical work that brings together perspectives from political science and sociology in invaluable ways. The book is a contribution of real significance."--J. Nicholas Ziegler, author of Governing Ideas: Strategies for Innovation in France and Germany

"Important and groundbreaking. This book moves well past the varieties of capitalism literature and the politics and ideas literature to explore the 'knowledge regimes' that produce policy ideas. The empirical contribution is extremely rich and quite distinct from anything else that has been done before. This book is a major accomplishment."--Elizabeth Popp Berman, author of Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine

"This is a highly innovative, beautifully researched investigation of a wholly neglected topic written by two major social scientists at the height of their powers. The National Origins of Policy Ideas may well become a classic."--John A. Hall, author of The Importance of Being Civil: The Struggle for Political Decency