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ften cannot accept these cards, forcing recipients travel tohe nearest big box stores.

The author suggests an alternate ‘popular technology’pproach to IT design and implementation, which utilizesollaboration with the actual end-users of services in ordero achieve a more equitable system. This participatoryesign model has the potential to reach more lofty goalshan simply to provide access, when design and imple-

entation objectives can be adjusted to better mesh withommunity needs. Participation in decision making (as isell known in the business world) leads to more buy-in,

rust, and engagement with the system than simply dictat-ng the process. It is important to note that collaborativeechnology projects can lead to social growth in communi-ies, even if the particular technology itself does not reachts design potential.

This research should serve as a general caveat forechnology projects, when it is expected that access andpportunities will necessarily lead to social change. Theook is recommended for broad range of scholars and prac-itioners in the fields of information technology, sociology,nd public policy.

William A. Wilson a

Debra Rose Wilson b,∗a Tennessee Tech University, College of

Business, 1 William L. Jones Drive, Cookeville,TN 38505, United States

b Middle Tennessee State University, Schoolof Nursing, 1301 East Main Street,

Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0001, United States

∗ Corresponding reviewer.E-mail address:

debrarosewilson@comcast.net(D.R. Wilson)

Available online 16 November 2011

oi:10.1016/j.soscij.2011.10.006

ater Pollution Policies and the American States: Run-way Bureaucracies or Congressional Control?

y John A. Hoornbeek; Albany, NY: State University of Nework Press, 2011, 329 pp.

There are three overriding themes to this text. First,ongress continues to play a vital role in influencing waterollution policy making and implementation in the Unitedtates. Second, the book analyzes relationships, devolutionn particular, between Congress, federal and state agenciesegarding development and implementation of water pol-ution policies. Third, the book provides recommendationss to which water pollution policies are ripe for reform.

Water pollution policies in the first half of the 20thentury were mostly reactive to an event. This garnered a

arge amount of media attention, and hodgepodge of actorsecame involved in creating, implementing, and enforcingater pollution policies and laws. This book explores major

ederal legislation regarding water pollution in the US in

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the first and second half of the 20th Century and seeks todetermine what conditions brought about affective man-agement, compliance, and ultimately a reduction in waterpollution.

The text is divided into four parts. The first part is intro-ductory in nature and defines concepts such as directivepolicy provisions and supportive provisions and how theyaffect compliance with and implementation of laws passedby Congress. Due to vague or unrealistic goals (e.g. makethe river fishable), measuring successful implementationcan be difficult. The second part is a historical analysis offederalism immediately following World War Two untilpresent day. Particular focus is given to bureaucratic rela-tionships between the federal and state governments. Therole Congress plays in providing direction and support forbureaucratic implementation of laws is a recurring themein this section. The third portion of the text considers howstates have adapted to Congressional directives, laws, andfinancial support in dealing with water pollution. Differ-ences of point and non-point source water pollution areexamined. In particular, a discussion of whether policyimplementation by state agencies is a result of ‘runawaybureaucracies’ in Lowi’s words, or simply uniform imple-mentation of Congressional law or federal regulations. Thefourth and final section discusses findings, and contribu-tions to the literature. Appendices provide data for stateexpenditures for water resources, data sources and expla-nation of variables used in data analysis.

The audience for the text includes scholars interested indevolution in the United States, water pollution, and morebroadly environmental studies. The book is ripe with schol-arly literature on Congress and the federal bureaucracy. Ibelieve the text would be instructive in a graduate-levelcourse on environmental politics and policy in the UnitedStates. Obviously, the book is not broad enough topic to bea stand-alone text in a course covering environmental pol-itics or a subfield such as water policy in the United States.Given of the text’s exclusive focus on water pollution, itis not recommended as a sole text for a state politics andpolicy course and would best be placed on a ‘suggested’or ‘optional’ readings list in a syllabus for graduate coursesproviding instruction on federalism and intergovernmentalrelations.

Individuals employed with federal or state agenciesinvolved in more technical aspects of compliance topollution related regulations would also find this bookinstructive. The discussions of successful methods of imple-mentation of compliance and devolution provide insightinto best practices that many bureaucrats and policy mak-ers will find instructive.

One strength of the book is in providing a thorough dis-cussion of federal laws and institutions on policy makingin the United States that is instructive. The text does nothave a particular geographic emphasis. Therefore, it is anappealing read to a broad geographic market. Hoornbeekalso provides an abundance of charts and graphs detailinglaws relating to water pollution and their effect on water

quality. Many of the relationships and more complex issuesare visually displayed throughout the chapters. The book’shistorical analysis and description of development of majorfederal legislation governing water policy is instructive to

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the novice and more experienced scholar of water policy inthe US.

Details of compliance and specific laws regarding waterpollution can be a bit cumbersome. If your primary interestin the book is devolution or dynamics of political insti-tutions, skipping over detailed discussions of measuringwater pollution will not take away from the book’s value.

The text’s primary argument is that in order to improvewater quality, Congress must take a more proactive role ingoverning. This is not a surprising conclusion in that waterpollution does not recognize state boundaries. However,Hoornbeek makes the argument that Congress is the onlyinstitution with constitutional authority to enact laws thatprovide an institutional process to ensure dispute resolu-tion over time. In other words, directives from Congresstrump those of federal agencies. Having Congress micro-manage water pollution policy may be difficult. The authorprovides supporting case studies regarding specific laws.However, as Hoornbeek notes, this book does not coverwhy this process behaves as it does. Also, he does not dis-cuss other alternatives such a creating a commission byway of an interstate compact, which carries the weight ofCongress. There are several commissions governing waterallocation, pollution, and other policy issues in river basins,which were created by interstate compact.

This book adds to the literature on devolution andintergovernmental bureaucratic relationships. Specifically,Hoornbeek addresses two questions. First, did Congress’spassage of the Clean Water Act institutionalize water pol-lution policies at the federal and state levels. Second, ifthe policies strayed from Congressional direction, why?In sum, Hoornbeek’s finds that Congress does matter. Inparticular, its control over state and federal bureaucra-cies by way of support through supportive resources anddirectives mandates prevents the bureaucracies fromstraying too far from the mark. Exceptions to this are dis-cussed and attributed to variables such as state capacityand vagueness of measurable criteria for policy outcomes.

Hoornbeek’s book is a valuable resource for scholarswanting to gain a better understanding of environmentalpolicy, water pollution policy, and devolution. Its short-comings are that it does not explain the behavior ofstate bureaucracies or provide a greater understanding ofCongressional influences on state and local policymaking.However, explaining this is a topic worthy of a separatebook or two. The book provides an in-depth analysis ofwater pollution issues in a unique manner. It providesinsight on issues of governing that will not disappear inthe near future. This book will be a relevant text in under-standing these issues for a generation.

James NewmanIdaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209,

United StatesE-mail address: newmjame@isu.edu

doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2011.10.005

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Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue

By Ryan Patrick Hanley; New York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 2009, 224 p., $88.00 cloth, $22.00 ebook.

Adam Smith—memories of invisible hands and free mar-kets emerged from the depths when I first received thisbook. The father of capitalism and the patron saint of theentrepreneurial spirit are the images I see of him in today’ssociety. Only a few, careful readers, know of his critiquesof capitalism. But it is with this book, that he is introducedas not only the father of capitalism and its major critic aswell, but also, importantly, as the person with remedies forthe ills of capitalism.

Hanley has produced a very careful analysis of the devel-opment of Adam Smith’s thought with a particular focus onhis The Theory of Moral Sentiments published originally in1759. He points out that a number of people have assumedthat Smith shifted his focus from morality to descriptiveeconomics when he published An Inquiry into the Natureand Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. Hanley’s bookdemonstrates clearly that The Theory of Moral Sentimentswas actually a work in progress that preceded and suc-ceeded Wealth of Nations. It went through six editions, someof which incorporate revisions and indeed entire new sec-tions, culminating in the final edition published in 1790, theyear of Smith’s death. Hanley does a very detailed analysisof the development of Smith’s thought over his life, throughall six editions of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (and manyof his other writings as well), which indicates that Smithnot only saw capitalism as the answer to many of societies’ills, a system which has built into it some inevitable cor-ruptions, and that the development of certain virtues tocounteract these corruptions will make capitalism strongerand more edifying for both the individuals and the societiesthat participate in it.

Although I do not know Hanley, I suspect if he viewed it,he saw all of the endings of Apocalypse Now (the motionpicture). Some know that one’s perception of the endingof this movie depends upon when one leaves the movietheatre (or today, when one shuts off the DVD player). Ifone left the theatre when the credits begin, it appears thatthe movie ends in one way; if one leaves at a juncture in thecredits when it seems there is resolution, the movie seemsto end another way; and if one leaves when the credits end,and the lights go up, the movie has a different ending. Theinsight here is to stay until the story is finished. This is whatHanley has done. Smith’s thought develops over time, andthis is reflected in the different editions of his book. In thesixth edition, at last, Smith finally gives a clear answer tothe issue of the ‘corruptions of commercial society’. WhatHanley has done for us: he has allowed us to see the ‘endof the movie’, so to speak.

developing their thought once a book is published. Ideasdevelop over time; thought is not like a fly caught in amber.We learn more when we trace the development of that