Overview

In recent decades, the level of moral acceptability of choice at the end of life has reached record highs. Legislative responsiveness to public opinion, however, has resulted in far fewer and much slower adoption patterns. For example, if a growing number of Americans support aid in dying legislation, why are so few states adopting them? While extensive research that explores matters of death and dying from the medical, legal, and religious perspectives exists, scholars have yet to consider the role of politics in explaining end of life policy adoption patterns. The Chronic Silence of Political Parties in End of Life Policymaking in the United States retraces the right to die movement’s legislative history from its beginnings to the adoption and diffusion of its most recent innovations—the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Paradigm and death with dignity—to identify the various forces that hinder its progress.

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9781498556088

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Finally, a project that tackles the politics of end of life issues systematically with solid social science theory and attention to detail. Bianca Easterly explores how end of life issues emerge as one-sided morality politics in the American states, fail to be addressed by the national government, and will likely continue to follow a pattern of bottom-up federalism. Solidly researched and described, Easterly has provided valuable insight for scholars, students, and practitioners on a subject that only grows more important as the population ages. -- Donald Haider-Markel, University of Kansas

“Finally, a project that tackles the politics of end of life issues systematically with solid social science theory and  attention to detail. Bianca Easterly explores how end of life issues emerge as one-sided morality politics in the American states, fail to be addressed by the national government, and will likely continue to follow a pattern of bottom-up federalism. Solidly researched and described, Easterly has provided valuable insight for scholars,  students, and practitioners on a subject that only grows more important as the population ages.” -- Donald Haider-Markel, University of Kansas

Author Information

Bianca Easterly is assistant professor of political science at Lamar University.

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