Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : the preschool puzzle -- Early childhood policy and the American welfare state -- Historical precedents and forces for change -- A watershed episode : the comprehensive child development act -- Venue shopping, federalism, and the role of the states -- Congressional activity and the dissolving early childhood coalition -- Policy stability and political change in the 1980s -- The congressional heritage of a critical juncture -- The contemporary preschool movement in the states -- Conclusion : the future of preschool politics.

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This book presents a political history of the debate over preschool education policy in the United States. In the United States, preschool education is characterized by the dominance of a variegated private sector and patchy, uncoordinated oversight of the public sector. Tracing the history of the American debate over preschool education, the author argues that the current state of decentralization and fragmentation is the consequence of a chain of reactions and counterreactions to policy decisions dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when preschool advocates did not achieve their vision for a comprehensive national program but did manage to foster initiatives at both the state and national levels. Over time, beneficiaries of these initiatives and officials with jurisdiction over preschool education have become ardent defenders of the status quo. Advocates of greater government involvement must take on a diverse and entrenched set of constituencies resistant to policy change. In his close analysis of the politics of preschool education, the author demonstrates how to apply the concepts of policy feedback, critical junctures, and venue shopping to the study of social policy.--description from a dust jacket.

English.

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