“The elite-level battle over the Affordable Care Act has consumed a decade, the ACA has transformed millions of lives—mostly for the better—and yet Daniel Hopkins’s brilliant new book, Stable Condition, shows that all this has barely moved a polarized public. What does this ‘stable condition’ mean for political science and policymaking alike? Read this fascinating book to find out.”
—JACOB S. HACKER, Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University
“Stable Condition is a beautifully written and truly comprehensive inquiry into Americans’ attitudes towards the ACA. The book presents new insights into a unique and historic moment in healthcare reform, but at the same time provides a generalizable framework for understanding the dynamics of public opinion more broadly. It should be required reading for anyone interested in elite influence, policy change, and the American political mind.”
—AMY E. LERMAN, Michelle Schwartz Endowed Chair and professor of public policy and political science, University of California, Berkeley
“Stable Condition offers unparalleled clarity on the politics of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its implications for American democracy. Dan Hopkins marshals a remarkable array of evidence to shed new light on the continually perplexing dynamics of public attitudes towards the ACA. Striking the perfect balance between vivid, accessible prose and expert empirical analyses, Stable Condition makes sense of a dizzying range of explanations for Americans’ views on contemporary health policy. This book provides invaluable insights for anyone who wants to more deeply understand public opinion, public policy, and the possibilities and perils facing democracy in the United States.”
—JAMILA MICHENER, associate professor of government and public policy and senior associate dean of public engagement, Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, Cornell University