Path-breaking research into the Atomic Energy Commission's internal memorandum files supports this text's explanation of how and why America came to depend so heavily on its experts after World War II and why their authority and political clout declined in the 1970s.

‘This book is much more than a case study of nuclear power policy in the US … (it) combines historical research over a 30-year period (1945–1975), with an expert understanding of the literature on bureaucracy, on the roles of scientists and the citizenry in the policy process, and on the policy economy of post-industrial policy-making. All students of policy formation thus will find Balogh’s book thought provoking. How refreshing it is to find a policy scholar who knows history and can write well.’

Source: Political Studies