Hacker, Jacob S. 1971–

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Hacker, Jacob S. 1971–

(Jacob Stewart Hacker)

PERSONAL: Born January 3, 1971, in Eugene, OR; son of Thomas Owen and Margaret Stewart Hacker; married Oona Anne Hathaway; children: Ava. Education: Harvard University, B.A.(summa cum laude), 1994; Yale University, Ph.D. (with distinction), 2000.

ADDRESSES: Home—New Haven, CT. Office—Department of Political Science, Yale University, P.O. Box 208301, New Haven, CT 06511. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER: Writer, professor, and political scientist. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC, Jacob Javits fellow, 1994; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, research associate, 1995–96, Society of Fellows junior fellow, 1999–2002, JFK School of Government scholar, 2002–05; New America Foundation, Washington, fellow, 1999–2000, nonresident fellow, 2000–; Yale University, New Haven, CT, Robert M. Leylan fellow in social sciences, 1996, teaching fellow, 1996–97, Peter Strauss Family Assistant Professor of Political Science, 2005–.

Brookings Institution, Washington, Robert Hartley research fellow, 1997–98, guest scholar in governmental studies, 1998–99; Economic and Social Research Institute, Washington, member of advisory panel, 1999–2003; Century Foundation, New York, NY, member of Task Force on Medicare Reform, 1999–2001; American Political Science Association, Washington, member of Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy, 2002–. Also a frequent commentator on National Public Radio (NPR), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Cable News Network (CNN), and Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC).

MEMBER: National Academy of Social Insurance; Academy of Political Science; Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Louis Brownlow Book Award, National Academy of Public Administration, 1997, for The Road to Nowhere: The Genesis of President Clinton's Plan for Health Security.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Road to Nowhere: The Genesis of President Clinton's Plan for Health Security, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1997.

The Divided Welfare State: The Battle over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Paul Pierson) Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2005.

The Great Risk Shift, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Medicare Tomorrow: The Report of the Century Foundation Task Force on Medicare Reform, edited by Lisa A. Potetz and Thomas H. Rice, Century Foundation Press (New York, NY), 2002; Transatlantic Policymaking in an Age of Austerity: Diversity and Drift, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2004; Change and Continuity in Institutional Analysis: Explorations in the Dynamics of Advanced Political Economies, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), forthcoming.

Contributor to periodicals and scholarly journals, including American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Studies in American Political Development, International Journal of Social Welfare, New York Times, Nation, and the Washington Post.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Coediting The Interplay of Politics and Policy in America's Struggle against Poverty and Inequality.

SIDELIGHTS: As an author, professor, and political scientist, Jacob S. Hacker is an expert on topics related to health and social policy. In 1997 Hacker published his first book, The Road to Nowhere: The Genesis of President Clinton's Plan for Health Security. In the book, Hacker analyzes how former president Bill Clinton used health care reform as a major issue during the 1992 presidential campaign. Clinton favored the framework of "managed competition," or, an artificial market for health insurance in which individuals, regardless of their health status, pay equal premiums and are able to choose among competing health plans. Clinton's campaign was successful, and he was elected to office. Hacker utilizes records, interviews, and other sources to examine how managed competition became Clinton's reform framework, why the policy was embraced by Americans, and why the reform was ultimately unsuccessful. The author also gives insight into how such issues and policies generally develop.

"Hacker's assessment is measured and balanced," remarked Mary E. Guy in a review of the book for the American Political Science Review. Guy further commented: "This book cuts away enough of the detritus that the reader can learn about the actions of key players and the events that propelled them forward." Other reviewers had similar reactions to The Road to Nowhere. In particular, British Medical Journal critic Donald Light called the book "readable" and concluded that it is "a remarkable achievement."

In 2005 Hacker and Paul Pierson wrote the book Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy, in which the authors discuss how and why Republicans have dominated government offices despite unpopular conservative policies and diminishing public support. Hacker and Pierson also argue that while the Republicans in office have shown a considerable shift to the "right," or towards more conservative views, voters have become slightly more liberal. The authors claim that Republicans' success in office is due to the fact that they have learned how to manipulate the system in their favor without significant backlash. In an interview posted in the Washington Post Online, Hacker and Pierson claimed, "our reason for writing the book was not simply dissatisfaction with our current political leadership; it was also dissatisfaction with the conventional interpretation of contemporary politics."

Critical response to Off Center was mixed. Library Journal critic Karl Helicher praised the book, stating that "the disconnect between the Bush administration and voters is illuminated in this intriguing investigation." On the other hand, Matthew Yglesias, writing in the American Prospect, felt that "little in their [Hacker and Pierson's] analysis is genuinely original," yet he also pointed out that "the synthesis is executed with a deft balance of grace and rigor." Yglesias went on to comment that though "the authors' analysis of the country's present predicament is a tour de force, their briefer efforts to outline a path forward is less satisfying." However, Harold Meyerson, writing in a Dissent Online review, felt that the book's strength is based on the fact that "the authors understand just how new, how radical, and how deeply undemocratic the Republican political order truly is."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, March, 1998, Mary E. Guy, review of The Road to Nowhere: The Genesis of President Clinton's Plan for Health Security, p. 231.

American Prospect, November, 2005, Matthew Yglesias, review of Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy, p. 41.

Booklist, January 1, 1997, Mary Carroll, review of The Road to Nowhere, p. 790.

British Medical Journal, November 29, 1997, Donald Light, review of The Road to Nowhere, p. 1476.

Christian Century, November 1, 2005, Bill McKibben, "Hard Right," review of Off Center, p. 38.

Library Journal, November 15, 2005, Karl Helicher, review of Off Center, p. 78.