From the start, Americans were wrestling with the proper connections between "private and public felicity." On its face, the first line of the First Amendment to the Constitution seems to settle the issue: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thomas Jefferson declared that this provision "buil[t] a wall of separation between church and state." While the proscription against meddling with religion originally applied only to the national government, the Fourteenth Amendment (...) extended the Constitution—and, in theory, Jefferson's wall—to the state governments. But the Constitution is just the start of the story. America's boisterous, protean religious life sends waves of fervor breaking against Jefferson's wall. Religious fervor provokes moralistic attitudes that filter through American politics. This paper examines the reach of this moralizing effect with a glance at two very unlikely—that is, apparently secular—policy domains: health care and jails. (shrink)

Health care reform sits, once again, in the eye of the political storm. This article, based on an analysis of past health care debates, offers nine historical lessons for contemporary reformers. We describe the most important political do's and don'ts.

We stand on the edge of change. The Republican coalition is frayed, and its trusty issues — slash taxes, cut programs, deregulate industry, preach morals — have worn thin. Will the Democrats seize the opportunity and capture the political system? Or will Republicans refresh themselves and win a new lease on power? The contest will center on clashing visions and competing programs; since national health insurance is perhaps the Democrats’ signature program, health reform will be, once again, at the eye (...) of the political storm. (shrink)

Book reviewed in this article: The New Health Care For Profit: Doctors and Hospitals in a Competitive Environment. Edited by Bradford H. Gray The Healing Mission and the Business Ethic. By Robert M. Cunningham The Medical Industrial Complex. By Stanley Wohl.