The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) has been in operation since 1977 (PL 95-124), with the intent "to reduce the risks of life and property from future earthquakes in the United States." NEHRP has been reauthorized by Congress many times, most recently in 2004 (PL 108-360). Despite Congressional Committee reports and general stakeholder perception that NEHRP "has achieved significant success since inception" there have been no attempts to quantify this "success." Further, there are indications that Congress has been unhappy with the program throughout its history but unwilling to significantly restructure it. I submit that part of this frustration grows from a lack of clear metrics by which to measure success of the program. This talk examines the success question from quantitative and qualitative angles, finding that ultimately the success question is impossible to answer because of the institutional framework and historic lack of communication between Congress and the executive branch agencies. The NEHRP program is put in context of a recently-developed "public failure/public success, market failure/market success" framework.