Means, Motives, and Opportunities illuminates how states spend public money through the lens of governmental structure, executive power, and interest group competition. Christian Breunig and Chris Koski argue that policymaking is a function of not only policymakers' means (powers), but of their motives (issues) and opportunities (interest group competition) for change. Using over twenty-five years of data across all fifty US states, four in-depth case studies, and multiple examples of budget battles, the book describes a budget-making environment in which governors must balance the preferences of interest groups with their own, all while attempting to build a budget that roughly balances. While governors are uniquely powerful, the range of changes they can make is largely impacted by interest group competition. By showing how means, motives, and opportunities matter, the book shows how spending decisions at the state level influence nearly every aspect of American life.

‘Breunig and Koski provide a comprehensive analysis of public budgeting in the US states, looking across a long span of time, at all fifty states, and assessing the respective roles of governors and interest groups in the process. They move from illustrations to state-focused case studies to comprehensive statistical analyses with ease. They offer much to like for a wide range of audiences: those interested in state politics, interest groups, gubernatorial power, the ability of our states to adapt to changing circumstances, and those interested in what makes good public policy. More importantly, they contribute mightily to policy theory by making sense of so much with such a simple theoretical framework: motives, opportunities, and means. The result is a must-read book that will stand the test of time.’

Frank R. Baumgartner - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

‘Breunig and Koski’s book brings together detailed data on state budgets with deep analyses of twelve case studies to provide a theoretically rich understanding of the political contexts that lead to punctuations of the policy equilibrium. They demonstrate the vital role played by the constellation of interest groups that surround a policy area for creating or unlocking a political stalemate.’

Thad Kousser - University of California, San Diego

‘This remarkable book combines policy process theory, executive politics, and interest group advocacy into a compelling explanation of why public budgets show the patterns and outcomes that they do. Budgets are indeed the ultimate aggregation of public policy and so this book helps us understand politics more broadly, with an emphasis on how institutions and attention matter.’

Beth L. Leech - Rutgers University