Vol. 9 No. 10 (October 1999) pp. 465-466.

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: HOW JAPANESE AMERICANS OBTAINED REDRESS by Mitchell Maki, Harry Kitano, and S. Megan Berthold. University of Illinois Press, 1999. 309 pp. Cloth $49.95. Paper $22.50.

Reviewed by Karen S. Godwin, Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine. The University of North Texas Health Science Center.

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM by Mitchell Maki, Harry Kitano, and Megan Berthold provides an excellent case study of a single instance of public policymaking, the passage of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act. This act provided some compensation for America's decision to place thousands of Japanese Americans into relocation camps. In 241 pages, the authors provide the political, social, and economic history that prevented the recognition and addressing of a historical injustice, and an analysis of why recognition finally occurred. As a Sansei born in 1944 who is not schooled in constitutional law or policy analysis, I am delighted to have a reference that explains a process that spanned almost 50 years.

The authors develop a policy model for the specific purpose of explaining the politics surrounding the redress of a particular injustice, but they argue that it could be applied equally well to other policy issues. The model maintains that to achieve a successful policy outcome the proponents of a policy must choose a time when the Senate, House, President, and Courts are all aligned in a way that makes lobbying success a high probability. This does not mean that all political institutions must support a policy, only that the legislature supports and the President and the courts not oppose the policy in a vigorous manner. The authors' model also takes into consideration the social prestige of the group demanding a policy and their political power.

The Kitano-Maki Proper Alignment Model is largely a combination of John Kingdon's 1984 model which identifies how policy "windows of opportunities occur" and the model of Ann Schneider and Helen Ingram (1993) that focuses specific attention on the public's perception of an interest group as well as its political power.

Among the important contributions that ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM makes is its description of how the attitudes and behavior of the three generations of Japanese Americans encouraged and discouraged the forward movement to redress over the 50 years. This description includes:

The crucial role that timing plays in creating a policy that promises longevity;

The need for patience and compromises to attain a greater good;

The determination to persist in a process that by nature moves slowly; and

The attitudes and behavior of the three generations of Japanese

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Americans that encouraged and discouraged the forward movement to redress over the 50 years.

The Kitano-Maki Proper Alignment Model effectively serves as a yardstick of progress towards redress as the reader followed the authors' historical development of players, events, "windows of opportunities " missed and taken, and luck from pre- 1941 incarceration through the first redress check awarded in October, 1990. Conversations with a contemporary policy analyst indicate that the merit (and longevity) of a model is dependent upon whether or not analysts may test the model in other retrospective reviews.

At first blush, the broad nature of categories for alignment suggests that the model may apply to other retrospective analysis similar to the redress effort for Japanese Americans. It seems, however, that caution should be noted that analysts using the model would need to be as comprehensive in historical accounting as Maki, Kitano, and Berthold were in their analysis.

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM can be valuable as a supplementary reference providing a specific example demonstrating a dynamic political process at work using an alternative model for analysis and a historical perspective of the Japanese American society from pre-WWII to the 1990s. The content is limited in scope and will likely not be used as a primary text for

the classroom. However, any person with a passionate interest in the movement towards entitlement and redress for Japanese Americans who were excluded or relocated during WWII will find accuracy of historical accounts and a depth of references on the subject.

REFERENCES:

Kingdon, John. 1984. AGENDAS, ALTERNATIVES, AND PUBLIC POLICIES. Glenville, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Schneider, Ann and Helen Ingram. 1993. Social Construction Of Target Populations: Implications For Politics And Policy. AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW 87: 334-347.