DESC: Rochefort updates his classic comprehensive review of mental health policy issues in American society, beginning with early practices that predate the formal "mental health system" and ending with current debates, about parity insurance coverage for mental illnesses, managed care, and Medicaid reform. At the same time, he provides a perspective on mental health policy analysis that draws on diverse work in the policy sciences, looks to both applied and theoretical concerns, and gives full recognition to the distinctive nature of mental health care problems. This new edition will be of enhanced value to policymakers in the mental health field as well as to students of American social welfare policy and public administration in general.