Privatization in the United States: Theory and Practice

Abstract

The rapid dissemination throughout the world of the language and programs of privatization has been likened to a revolution or a boom.' The rapidity with which the terminology has been adopted presents an anomaly to those accustomed to emphasizing the forces of incrementalism and resistance to policy change. And the apparent application of privatization techniques to environs as diverse as those of Great Britain, Turkey, Brazil, and Japan poses a challenge to those used to portraying public policies as the offshoot of economic and developmental circumstances or extensions of national norms.2 This article analyzes the emergence of privatization on the public agenda of the United States. As a self-conscious movement with genuine influence at the national level, privatization came later to the United States than to several other nations. Since the early 1980s, however, privatization in the United States has moved from an intellectual fringe to become a centerpiece in contemporary public policy debates. The Reagan administration began to target programs and assets for privatization early in its first term. In early 1987, the first major privatization was carried out with the sale of the government's 85 percent interest in Conrail, a corporation established by Congress in 1976 to provide freight rail service in the North-