Showing papers on "Government published in 1974"

Political Issues and Trust in Government: 1964–1970.

Abstract: National survey data demonstrate that support of the federal government decreased substantially between 1964 and 1970. Policy preference, a lack of perceived difference between the parties, and policy dissatisfaction were hypothesized as correlates of trust and alternative explanations of this decrease. Analysis revealed that the increased distrust in government, or cynicism, was associated with reactions to the issues of racial integration and U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. A curvilinear relationship was found between policy preference on these and other contemporary social issues and political cynicism. The minority favoring centrist policies was more likely to trust the government than the large proportion who preferred noncentrist policy alternatives. This complex relationship between trust and policy preference is explained by dissatisfaction with the policies of both political parties. The dissatisfied noncentrists formed highly polarized and distinct types: “cynics of the left,” who preferred policies providing social change, and “cynics of the right,” who favored policies of social control.

Comment: The Political Relevance of Trust in Government.

Abstract: “In God We Trust: Everyone Else Pays Cash.” America's political leaders should not pretend to godliness; no one will be fooled. According to prestigious biennial national surveys, the government's credit rating has steadily declined as a result of a disastrous foreign investment and growing consumer resistance to its “line” of products. Neither the country's present management nor its most prominent rivals inspire public confidence. How, then, can the political system rebuild its depleted reserves of political trust, the basis of future growth and stability? Will “one good season,” better advertising, new blood in the boardroom or product innovation be sufficient? Or is a drastic restructuring of the regime's organization and operating procedures the only alternative to liquidation?Arthur Miller's article, “Political Issues and Trust in Government: 1964–70” makes an important contribution to our understanding of the sharp increase in political cynicism among the American public. Miller evokes the language of the corporation balance-sheet and the imagery of Executive Suite by suggesting that the cumulative outcome of exchanges between political authorities on the one hand and citizens on the other determines the level of public trust in government. Political elites “produce” policies; in exchange, they receive trust from citizens satisfied with these policies and cynicism from those who are disappointed. Since Miller defines both policy satisfaction and political trust in attitudinal terms, the exchange transactions he records are purely psychological in nature. Operationally, dissatisfied respondents are those whose own policy preferences are discrepant with their perceptions of the positions advocated by the party controlling the presidency.

Bureaucratic politics and foreign policy

Abstract: The first edition of Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy is one of the most successful Brookings titles of all time. This thoroughly revised version updates that classic analysis of the role played by the federal bureaucracy --civilian career officials, political appointees, and military officers --and Congress in formulating U.S. national security policy, illustrating how policy decisions are actually made. Government agencies, departments, and individuals all have certain interests to preserve and promote. Those priorities, and the conflicts they sometimes spark, heavily influence the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. A decision that looks like an orchestrated attempt to influence another country may in fact represent a shaky compromise between rival elements within the U.S. government. The authors provide numerous examples of bureaucratic maneuvering and reveal how they have influenced our international relations. The revised edition includes new examples of bureaucratic politics from the past three decades, from Jimmy Carter's view of the State Department to conflicts between George W. Bush and the bureaucracy regarding Iraq. The second edition also includes a new analysis of Congress's role in the politics of foreign policymaking.

Government Managers, Business Executives, and Organizational Commitment

Abstract: First among the forces which give life to organizations are human energy and creativity. These are important at all hierarchical levels, but nowhere more so than among the decision-making elite; the organization's managers.1 Most large organizations in this society are able to attract enough talented and highly motivated people to their upper ranks. Organizations differ, however, in their capacity to hold such people and excite their loyalty. There is considerable evidence to suggest that business organizations are more successful at stimulating commitment to their purposes than government agencies. Several studies conducted in a variety of public and private organizations have displayed a striking consistency in results: business executives typically report more positive attitudes toward their organizations than comparable government executives.

The Competitive Supply of Money

Abstract: FEW AREAS OF ECONOMIC AcTIvrrY can claim as long and unanimous a record of agreement on the appropriateness of governmental intervention as the supply of money.l Very early in our history money was recognized by policy makers to be "special," and individuals fearful of government influence in other areas of economic life readily acknowledged that government had a primary role in controlling monetary arrangements. Free market advocates who now argue for, among other things, unregulated entry and the elimination of all interest rate and portfolio restrictions do not opt for a completely unregulated money industry, but recognize that money has unique characteristics which require that it not be supplied freely as an ordinary good. The monetary role of government is agreed to include, at a minimum, the monopolistic supply of a currency, into which all privately supplied demand deposits should be convertible. In

What Kind of Geography for What Kind of Public Policy

Abstract: Before geographers commit themselves to public policy, they need to pose two questions: what kind of geography and what kind of public policy. The evolution of the discipline, in terms both of its aims and its professional organization, must be seen as an adaptation to external conditions, particularly to the development of the corporate state with its emphasis on the 'national interest'. The corporate state forces education to be seen purely as investment in manpower and academic research becomes subservient to the state and is used to preserve and strengthen the status quo. There is here a potential conflict with the academic's sense of moral obligation, but in practice the conflict is resolved by the parochialism and elitism of the humanistic tradition. To help to move away from the corporate state and towards the 'incorporated state' in which men can control the social conditions of their own existence, geographers need to address their efforts towards understanding the tension between the humanistic tradition and the pervasive needs of the corporate state and thereby to learn how to exploit the contradictions within the corporate state itself. CAN geographers contribute successfully, meaningfully and effectively to the formation of public policy ? General Pinochet is a geographer by training, and by all accounts he is successfully putting geography into public policy. As President of the military Junta that overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile on I September I973, General Pinochet does not approve of 'subversive' academic disciplines such as sociology, politics and even philosophy. He has asked that 'lessons in patriotism' be taught in all Chilean schools and universities and he is known to look with great favour upon the teaching of geography-such a subject is, he says, ideally suited to instruct the Chilean people in the virtues of patriotism and to convey to the people a sense of their true historic destiny. Since the military have taken full command of the universities and frequently supervise instruction in the schools, it appears that geography will become a very significant discipline in the Chilean educational system. General Pinochet is also actively changing the human geography of Chile. An example is here in order. The health care system of Chile has, for some time, comprised three distinct components: the rich paid for services on a 'free-market' basis; the middle classes made use of hospital-based medicine financed by private insurance schemes; while the lower classes and poor (some 60 per cent of the population) received free medical care in community-based health centres paid for out of a National Health Service.1 Under Allende, resources were switched from the first two sectors into the community health services which had previously been poorly financed and largely ignored. The geography of the health care system began to be transformed from a centralized, provider-controlled, hospital-centred system catering exclusively to the middle and upper classes, to a decentralized, community-controlled, free health care system primarily catering to the needs of the lower classes and the poor. This transformation did not occur without resistance-the providers of hospital-based medicine organized strikes to preserve the old social geography of health care against the emergence of the new. But during the Allende years the community health centres grew and flourished. Also, community control through the creation of Community Health Councils had a profound political impact and many aspects of life began to be organized around the community health centres. The emphasis also shifted from curative medicine (with all of its glamour and expensive paraphernalia) to preventive medicine which sought to treat medical care as something integral to a wide range of environmental issues (water supply, sewage disposal, and the like). The human geography of social contact, political power and distribution changed as hitherto never before, as the lower classes and poor people began to realize the potential for controlling the social conditions of their own existence.

Old Age Pensions and Policy-Making in Canada

Abstract: Old age pensions have been a recurring issue in Canadian politics since the beginning of the twentieth century and now have more government resources devoted to them than to any other single public program. For these reasons the author has selected old age pensions as a case study on the politics of income redistribution. Professor Bryden analyses the development of public pension policy against the background of two opposing forces: the social and economic needs of an emerging urban-industrial society and the influence of a deep-rooted set of cultural values referred to as the market ethos which reinforces dominant economic interests. In particular he shows how the impact of the two forces - the one demanding the other resisting, income redistribution - affected the choice and later revisions of means test pensions in 1927, universal pensions in 1951, and contributory pensions in 1965. The features of these three pension plans are examined in detail, as are the conditions which brought the pension Issue to the top of the government agenda in each case; the alternative plans which were discussed; and the influence of individual members of parliament, political parties, the trade union movement, other interest groups, and provincial governments on the shape or revision of each new program. The expansion of pension programs brought about large increases in public expenditure. Regressive taxes and "contributions" were built into the policy designs and were justified in terms of the market ethos-prospective beneficiaries, it was argued, should be required to contribute to their own pensions. Professor Bryden examines the reality of the taxes and concludes that those in the lower middle income range and below have been required to assume a disproportionate share of the burden of providing income maintenance for the aged. In short, accommodations to the market ethos were an integral part of public pension policy.

The Control of Industrial Accidents: Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence

Abstract: The passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 represents the latest extension of a form of government regulation that began in the United States almost a century ago. Government standards concerning the physical environment of the workplace were first promulgated in America by Massachusetts, which required in 1877 that "[t]he belting, shafting, gearing and drums of all manufacturing establishments, when so located as to be, in the opinion of the inspectors hereinafter mentioned, dangerous to employees while engaged in their ordinary duties, shall be, as far as practicable, securely guarded."1 This standard covered less than 350,000 employees. Today, under federal legislation, 62 million American workers are covered by safety rules which govern virtually every aspect of the workplacefrom asbestos particles to toilet partitions. Compared to other significant government programs, safety legislation has historically been uncontroversial. Early legislation was adopted in an era when most forms of government intervention in business and labor affairs were regarded as unconstitutional. A similar accommodating attitude has prevailed in more recent times. The debate prior to the 1970 federal Act focused on the administrative details of the proposed legislation rather than on the wisdom of a large federal safety effort. The typically noncritical nature of the debate is surely due to the moralistic nature of the safety issue. Even to question the basic premises of regulation via safety standards is often associated with an insensitivity toward workers' safety. It is just such an examination, however, which is necessary in order to understand the regulation of safety and to evaluate particular statutes such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. It is the purpose of this paper to examine both the theoretical and empirical premises of alternative methods available for industrial accident control.2

Welfare Medicine in America: A Case Study of Medicaid

Abstract: The present study was undertaken for three reasons: Medicaid is a vital program-in the early 1970s it provided care for over one tenth of the American population. It is a huge program-in the same period it consumed over nine billion dollars of public funds. And Medicaid is, in many ways, the most direct involvement with the provision of medical care undertaken by either the federal government or the states. But until the publication of this book, Medicaid had not been studied in depth or in a systematic way. Welfare Medicine in America is the complete history of Medicaid. The authors carefully examine the program's historical antecedents, its strengths, and its weaknesses. In part one, "The Coming of Medicaid," the hows and whys of the establishment of Medicaid are discussed, as are the basic provisions of the program. In part two, "The Euphoric Demise: July 1965-January 1968," the focus is on how Medicaid is administered in the states. In part three, "The Storm: January 1968-July 1970," specific amendments to Medicaid, the costs involved, and other health programs are examined. And in part four, "Benign Neglect: July 1970-June 1973," the role of the courts in administering Medicaid, and its future, are the primary subjects. This history of Medicare, however, goes beyond the specific government program itself and offers a paradigm for inquiring into the problems of medical care in general and the nature and limitations of public medical services. Welfare Medicine in America is a profound analysis of Medicaid and welfare systems, and will be of great use to policymakers, students of welfare and government, and to those working within the medical profession.

The Market Model and Higher Education.

Abstract: This paper deals with the increasing tendency of government to finance higher education through students, a trend having important policy implications for higher education. This trend and numerous related governmental decisions have been based almost exclusively upon economic rationale. The rationale itself has largely been developed and couched in terms of one particular concept the perfectly competitive market, or more generally, the market model. This is clearly evidenced in Federal policy statements and various position papers concerned with changing patterns of governmental financing of higher education.' These documents indicate, in part, the extent to which the market concept is presently being used to support and justify Federal policy decisions regarding higher education, and how the market concept is tied to funding higher education through students.

American Anti-Imperialists and the Pro-India Movement, 1900-1932

Abstract: FROM THE BEGINNING Of the twentieth century until after World War II, the cause of Indian nationalism was able to win articulate support from American intellectuals. But the American pro-India movement, which broadly aimed at mobilizing the public and the United States government to change British policy, was never large or particularly successful. Even those people who were involved in pro-India organizations usually rated other issues higher on their list of priorities. Most Americans, including those in influential government positions, were indifferent to an issue so remote from their lives and apparently from national security or self-interest. Only during World War II did India become a major issue for the U.S. and even then the policy of the American government was one of uncertainty. To be sure, a former American diplomat has claimed that the British yielded after the war in part because of world opinion that was significantly influenced by the efforts over the years of groups within the U.S. But more convincing is a recent evaluation that, despite the coincidence of American ideals long articulated by pro-India groups and national self-interest, the U.S. failed to respond effectively to the irresistible tide of nationalism.'

Use of Linear Programming in Capital Budgeting With Multiple Goals: Reply

Abstract: APITAL budgeting is concerned with choices among alternative investment opportunities. These investment opportunities include not only business decisions, such as which plant to build and hence which new technology to adopt, but also the amounts to be spent by government on roads, education, research, military facilities, and the like. Given this wide definition of investment alternatives, capital budgeting can be seen to be one of the most important economic activities in both the private and public sectors. Capital budgeting decisions almost invariably involve multiple goals, whether they are made in the public or private sector. The existence of multiple goals plus the difficulty that one man or even the several members of a man-

Marriage Among a Matrilineal Elite: A Family Study of Ghanaian Senior Civil Servants

Abstract: 1 The problem 2 Custom and innovation 3 Government servants and kinsmen 4 The allocation of resources 5 Power and decision-making 6 Tension and change

Urbanization and Political Demand Making: Political Participation Among the Migrant Poor in Latin American Cities.

Abstract: This paper investigates the proposition that rapid urbanization produces significant changes in the kinds, volume, and intensity of demand making aimed at local and national governments, leading to political system “overload” and pressure for major shifts in resource allocation. Drawing upon data gathered among low-income migrants to Mexico City and other Latin American cities, the paper analyzes the process through which objective needs are converted into demands upon government. The findings indicate that there are often major lags in the process of demand creation among cityward migrants, and that many kinds of felt needs are viewed by migrants as needs to be satisfied primarily through individual rather than governmental action. Data are presented on the incidence of demand making among the migrant population and the substantive nature of the demands they make upon government. Strategies used in attempting to influence government decisions are described, and the attitudes and perceptions underlying the migrant's preference among alternative strategies are analyzed. The long-term propensity of migrants and their offspring to engage in demand making with regard to broad social and economic issues rather than individual or community-related needs is assessed.

Observations on a distributive theory of policy-making: Two American expenditure programs compared

Abstract: Why government policies take the form they do is a question that has long interested political scientists and is currently the focus of widespread research efforts (Heclo, 1972; Tribe, 1972; and Bauer and Jergen, 1969). There are essentially three basic approaches to this question: the environmental, the structural, and a combination of these two approaches. The first, evidenced in other papers in this volume, attempts to explain government outputs without discussing the structure of government decision-making. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that governmental decision-makers respond directly, whether rationally or like billiard balls, to environmental influences. The second approach would explain outputs only in terms of government decision-making. The implicit assumption in this approach is that decision-makers can produce outputs that differ from those imposed upon them by their environment. The third approach attempts to explain the outputs of government as a function of both government structure and environmental influences. This approach assumes that if decision-making were organized differently, different influences in the government's environment would be able to affect policy decisions, and consequently government policy would take a different form. This paper takes a prevalent theory following from this third approach and examines it in the light Of data on two expenditure programs.

The Impact of Watergate on Children's Attitudes toward Political Authority

Abstract: The question of how children acquire their opinions about their government and the political system in general has been of great concern to political scientists. One of the persistent findings of this research in political socialization has been that an American child's first awareness of the political system is of the president of the United States, and that the role and occupant are idealized to an overwhelming degree.' Especially at early ages (grades three, four, and five), the president is seen as benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent, protective, infallible, diligent, likable, and so on. In a 1969 study, after having interviewed more than 12,000 children, political scientists David Easton and Jack Dennis re-

Policy Flow Analysis: a Conceptual Model for Comparative Public Policy Research:

Abstract: EXPANDING interest in policy making parallels a crisis in the institutions of democracy. Policy making is fundamental to government for committing resources and defining the priorities guiding governmental action. In industrial and developing societies, where increasing complexity, rapid change and continuous tension are concomitants of existence, traditional administrative agencies, rooted in nineteenth-century experience, are placed under ever increasing stress as they adapt to the altered environment which they now serve. Concern for policy making signals a reawakened sensitivity to the importance of value choices. It is value choice, implicit and explicit, which orders the priorities of government and determines the commitment of resources within the public jurisdiction. The proposed model focuses on the changed role of the executive, legislative and judicial participants in the policy process, with a view to explicating the relationship of values to public policy. To this end, the model identifies actors, groups and agencies and suggests the critical interactive processes that blend power and value in determining policy choices. The model is applicable to the dynamics of the policy-making process in at least the ministerial and presidential systems of western industrialized countries and may have potential use in other jurisdictions as well.