AN ACT OF CONGRESS: The Legislative Process and the Making of Education Policy

Not only a major victory for the President, enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 marked the end of a century of wrangling over federal aid to education: it was ensconced. Here two political scientists, who spent 1965 as Congressional Fellows, interpret the events preceding passage of that act and its modifications in 1966 and 1967. Clearly, it was LBJ's show. His Commissioner of Education, Francis Keppel, managed it--developing the bill, ushering it past conflicting lobbies, and using his strong personal network of professional relationships to find ""consensus"" on the issue of aid to parochial schools. In a sense, Congress ""surrendered"" to the Administration, and Senator Dirksen was accused of ""rubberstamping"" the President's bill. Floor action, sparring in committee, even the functions of the judiciary and the press are related. The book is a cogent (if congested) study of the policy-making process likely to turn up as supplemental reading in political science courses.