The Politics of Institutional Reform
Katrina, Education, and the Second Face of Power

Treating Hurricane Katrina as a natural experiment, Moe explores New Orleans' education reform to reveal how political power shapes efforts to fix failing institutions.

Terry M. Moe (Author)

9781108740388, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 September 2019

176 pages
22.9 x 15 x 1.2 cm, 0.35 kg

'Terry M. Moe uses a theorist's insight to cut through the clutter surrounding New Orleans' school transformation. As he shows, smart pragmatists like Paul Pastorek can do sensible things, but only when the guardians of the status quo lose their blocking power. The result is a novel and revealing analysis of how power shapes the prospects for institutional reform.' Paul Hill, Center for Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington

In this ground breaking analysis, Terry M. Moe treats Hurricane Katrina as a natural experiment that offers a rare opportunity to learn about the role of power in the politics of institutional reform. When Katrina hit, it physically destroyed New Orleans' school buildings, but it also destroyed the vested-interest power that had protected the city's abysmal education system from major reform. With the constraints of power lifted, decision makers who had been incremental problem-solvers turned into revolutionaries, creating the most innovative school system in the entire country. The story of New Orleans' path from failure to revolution is fascinating, but, more importantly, it reveals the true role of power, whose full effects normally cannot be observed, because power has a 'second face' that is hidden and unobservable. Making use of Katrina's analytic leverage, Moe pulls back the curtain to show that this “second face” has profound consequences that stifle and undermine society's efforts to fix failing institutions.

Introduction
1. Power, vested interests, and the politics of institutional reform
2. Before Katrina: the normal politics of reform
3. After Katrina: reform with the lid off
4. Protecting the revolution: toward a new normal
5. Learning from Katrina.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP], Educational strategies & policy [JNF], Education [JN]