Showing papers on "Government published in 1980"

Self-Interest vs. Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting

Abstract: This article contrasts short-term self-interest and longstanding symbolic attitudes as determinants of (1) voters' attitudes toward government policy on four controversial issues (unemployment, national health insurance, busing, and law and order), and (2) issue voting concerning those policy areas. In general, we found the various self-interest measures to have very little effect in determining either policy preferences or voting behavior. In contrast, symbolic attitudes (liberal or conservative ideology, party identification, and racial prejudice) had major effects. Nor did self-interest play much of a role in creating “issue publics” that were particularly attentive to, informed about, or constrained in their attitudes about these specific policy issues. Conditions that might facilitate more self-interested political attitudes, specifically having privatistic (rather than public-regarding) personal values, perceiving the policy area as a major national problem, being high in political sophistication, perceiving the government as responsive, or having a sense of political efficacy, were also explored, but had no effect. The possibility that some long-term self-interest might be reflected in either group membership or in symbolic attitudes themselves is examined. While such possibilities cannot be definitively rejected, problems with interpreting standard demographic findings as self-interest effects are discussed.

The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2d ed.

Abstract: The book is generally well written, the study is well documented, and the authors have a sound grasp of the fundamentals and of the agencies involved. Still, it is essentially limited to the Canadian experience. The book could have been enhanced if greater efforts had been made to compare findings within a larger bureaucratic theory to results in other governments. Generally, however, the book contributes to the scientific understanding of administration in that it is a solid, well-based, and well-carried out empirical study of the major agencies of an important government. In this sense, although some of the implications may be limited to Canadian institutions, others are certainly available as a basis for formulating theoretical questions which might be applied to institutions in other governments. The appendix contains a thorough description of the research approach, including the questions used. An additional appendix also summarizes information gathered by the research questionnaire fromr the various agencies, valuable for the development of further research efforts. Because of its relatively successful attempts to relate empirical evidence to bureaucratic theory and the depth with which it examines certain agencies, the book is valuable reading for serious students of the bureaucratic phenomenon and of government function in general.

The Growth of Government

Abstract: BY conventional budget and gross national product (GNP) measures, government's role in the allocation of resources has increased considerably over the last century, and the growth shows no sign of abating. As a result, governments everywhere in the developed world have moved from a sometimes trivial to a now uniformly considerable role in shaping national expenditures. My task will be to try to explain this growth and size. To do so, I am going to equate government's role in economic life with the size of its budget. This is obviously wrong since many government activities (for example, statutes and administrative rules) redirect resources just as surely as taxation and spending, but the available data leave no other choice. My operating assumption has to be that large and growing budgets imply a large and growing substitution of collective for private decision in allocating resources. But the main intellectual problem I want to explore is the sources of this substitution generally. I first review the facts about the growth of government and some standard explanations. Since none of the explanations seems very satisfactory, I then present my own explanation, which focuses on the incentives to use a political mechanism to redistribute wealth. Finally, I confront my theory with some relevant data. The main result is counterintuitive: greater equality of private incomes increases the demand for political redistribution.

Government, Business, and Entrepreneurship in Economic Development: The Korean Case

Abstract: Jones, Leroy P.; Il, Sakong.1980.Government, business, and entrepreneurship in economic development,Reports,[London]Harvard University Press,Harvard East Asian Monographs/91,472

Government Deficits and Aggregate Demand

Abstract: The evidence presented in this paper indicates that changes in government spending, transfers and taxes can have substantial effects on aggregate demand The estimates also indicate that the promise of future social security benefits significantly reduces private saving Each of the basic implications of the so-called "Ricardian equivalence theorem" is contradicted by the data The results are consistent with the more general view of the effects of fiscal actions and fiscal expectations that is described in the paper

Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior Using the Personal Characteristics of Political Leaders

Abstract: Do the personal characteristics of political leaders affect their governments' foreign policy behavior? The present study examines the impact of 6 personal characteristics of 45 heads of government on the foreign policy behavior of their nations. These characteristics, each of individual interest, interrelate to form two orientations to foreign affairs, and the influence of these orientations on foreign policy behavior is also explored. The results are reported for all 45 heads of government, as well as for those leaders among the 45 with high or low interest in foreign affairs and with little or much training in foreign affairs.

An Introduction to Privacy in Economics and Politics

Abstract: THE enormous increase in interest in privacy in our society is evident in the public press and in the statute books In some respects this interest in privacy is paradoxical, for the average citizen has more privacy-more areas of his life in which his behavior is not known by his fellows-than ever before He lives in a large city, where no one is his keeper; in the small towns of former times privacy was won only by the cleverest people He works in large organizations, and indeed he (or, more likely, some self-appointed spokesman) laments his alienation He can shake off most of his past simply by moving-to the South, the West-and no earlier generation except the immigrant waves before World War I was as mobile If then the privacy issue is a real issue, and not one of those contrived issues that march across the headlines for a time, it probably exists because of the vast growth of government Governments (at all levels) are now collecting information of a quantity and in a personal detail unknown in history Consider: it would have been quite impossible for a public official in 1860 to learn anything of the income of a citizen chosen at random without leaving Washington, DC Today the files of Social Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the microfilms of banking transactions, and other sources are potentially available to answer the question, to say nothing of the fact that perhaps one family in three or four receives payments directly or indirectly from the federal government In addition the government has become the major instrument by which the information-collecting and information-using practices of private citizens are controlled Technology has enormously changed the mechanics of gathering and disseminating information, but it is politics and economics that direct the uses of the machinery Three topics in this large subject are explored here: the nature of privacy in economic behavior; the economic effects of

Naval Ship Production: A Claim Settled and a Framework Built

Abstract: Program overruns, contract disputes, and legal confrontation between defense contractors and the government escalated seriously over the 1970's. The author led the development and application of a ...

The Politics of Mental Handicap

Abstract: This celebrated book is a plea for the rights of mentally handicapped people - an analysis of why we have denied the mentally handicapped their humanity, and why we so often shut them away in institutions. In a new chapter, Joanna Ryan examines the reality behind the government's commitment to community care.

The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics

Abstract: In the American constitutional system the formal powers of government are sufficiently fragmented that no single official, including the president, is individually responsible for the outcomes of government activity. Thus, American officials face the continual temptation to "pass the buck"—to avoid any difficult or politically dangerous decision in the hope that some other official(s) will get stuck with the consequences of acting or failing to act. The American citizen in turn, faces the difficult task of assessing responsibility on numerous officials all of whom deny that they share in that responsibility. The only remedy for such a situation is some form of collective responsibility by which all officials who share authority are held equally responsible for acting or failing to act. Thus far in our history the political party has been the only vehicle by which collective responsibility has been enforced. Strong parties provide the leadership to organized and maintain national policymaking coalitions, and in doing so become clearly responsible for the policies which emerge. Unfortunately, the political party has undergone a steady decline in American politics, a decline evident in the organizational, electoral and governmental spheres. As a result there is a crisis of collective responsibility in contemporary American politics. This situation contributes to more often discussed contemporary problems such as immobilism in our policymaking processes, the increasing importance of single-issue groups, and the increasing political alienation of the American populace.

'Invisible' resource: women for boards.

Abstract: Despite the increased appearance of women on corporate boards in recent years, only 1.8% of the directors of the top 1,300 boards are women. Almost without exception, these women have been highly "visible" for their achievements in government, education, and nonprofit circles. But there are hundreds of other high achievers who are not so visible. The problem for chairmen and nominating committees is two-fold: (1) identifying and selecting the best of this "unknown" but talented pool of candidates and (2) defining and communicating their expectations from women.

Understanding social policy

Abstract: List of Tables Preface to the Eighth Edition 1 Studying Social Policy Introduction The Individual and Society Rights and Obligations Social Policy: Magpie, Jelly-baby or Side-salad? The Contents of this Book Suggestions for Further Reading 2 The Shaping of Contemporary Social Policy Introduction Poverty and the State before the Welfare State The Emergence of a 'Welfare State' in the Early Twentieth Century Beveridge's 'Five Giants' The Welfare State after Beveridge Suggestions for Further Reading 3 The Making of Social Policy Introduction The Representative Government Model The Central Government System Devolution Local Government The United Kingdom in Europe The Global Context The Voice of the People? Influences on Policy Making Ministerial Power: the Role of Officials and the Influence of Outside Groups and Policy Communities Suggestions for Further Reading 4 Implementation Introduction Structures for Policy Implementation: Under Central Government Structures for Policy Implementation: Under Local Government Analysing Policy Implementation Issues about the Implications of the Way Policy is Formed Issues about 'Layers' in the Policy Transfer Process Factors Affecting the Responses of Implementation Agencies Horizontal Interorganizational Relationships The Social, Political and Economic Environment Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 5 Social Security Introduction The Distinctive Characteristics of the UK System of Social Security Contributory Benefits Benefits that the State Requires the Employer to Provide Non-contributory, Non-means-tested, Contingent Benefits Means-tested Benefits Tax Credits Statistics on the Benefit System Pension Reform Problems with Means-testing Social Security Assumptions about Family Life and Women's Roles Social Security Benefit Levels and Poverty Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 6 Employment Policy Introduction Alternative Approaches to Employment Policy The Evolution of the UK Approach to Employment Policy The Impact upon the UK of European Union Membership The Main Employment Policy Measures Training Encouraging/Enforcing Labour Market Participation Reducing Unemployment or Stimulating Employment? Government Regulation of Work Conditions and Job Security Employment and Social Policy: a European Future? Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 7 Health Policy Introduction The Organization and Management of the National Health Service Patient Access to Health Services Management and Professional Accountability The Financing of the National Health Service Need and the Rationing of the Health Service Equality of Treatment: the Impact of the Private Sector Equality of Treatment: Inequalities in Health and Medical Treatment Health Policy or Illness Policy? The Representation and Protection of the Public Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 8 Social Care for Adults Introduction An Overview of Social Care Services Residential Care: a More Detailed Examination Care Outside Residential Homes Direct Payments and Personal Budgets The Relationship Between Personal Social Care and the Health Service Needs and Priorities Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 9 Education and Children Introduction The Organization and Management of the State School System Higher and Further Education Child Care Child Protection Control over the Education System The Government and the Curriculum Diversity and Selectivity in the Education System Education and the Disadvantaged Education and Minority Ethnic Groups Special Education and Other Welfare Measures Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 10 Housing Introduction How the Housing System Acquired its Present Shape The Social Housing Sector Owner-occupation The Private Rented Sector Homelessness Social Exclusion and Residualization Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading 11 The UK in the Wider World Introduction Policy Learning Explaining the Shape of Developed Welfare States Gender, Diversity and Culture in Comparative Theory Comparing Social Policies Social Policy from Above and Below Conclusion: the UK in Comparative Context Suggestions for Further Reading 12 Social Policy and Social Change Introduction Changes in the Family Changes in Working Life Changes in the UK Population Conclusions Suggestions for Further Reading References Index

Wage Determination in the Federal Government: The Role of Constituents and Bureaucrats

Abstract: The existence of significant wage differentials among "similar" individuals employed by different agencies in the federal government is explored. The theoretical framework proposes that the underlying reason for these differentials may be linked to the political influence exhibited by the constituencies and bureaucracies of federal agencies. The empirical results indicate that employees in federal agencies with small and well-organized constituencies and with bureaucracies that apparently share common interests generally receive higher wage rates. In fact, a small number of variables measuring these political factors explains about two-thirds of interagency wage differentials.

The Political Market for Government Assistance to Australian Manufacturing Industries

Abstract: This paper applies the emerging neoclassical economic theory of politics to the question of why some industries receive more government assistance than others. Various determinants of the incentives for interest groups to demand assistance and for governments to supply assistance are suggested on a priori grounds. An attempt is then mode to see how well these factors can explain (I) the differences between rates of assistance to Australia's munufacturing industries at various points in time between 1968–49 and 1977–78. and (2) the different changes in those rates during the mid-1970s. The evidence generally supports the theory, and prompts some suggestions as to how to reduce existing government distortions.

Rational Expectations and Economic Policy

Abstract: "Several areas in economics today have unprecedented significance and vitality. Most people would agree that stabilization policy ranks with the highest of these. Continuing inflation and periodic serious acceleration of inflation combined with high and secularly rising unemployment combine to give the area high priority. This book brings us up to date on an extremely lively discussion involving the role of expectations, and more particularly rational expectations, in the conduct of stabilization policy. . . . Anyone interested in the role of government in economics should read this important book."—C. Glyn Williams, The Wall Street Review of Books "This is a most timely and valuable contribution. . . . The contributors and commentators are highly distinguished and the editor has usefully collated comments and the ensuing discussion. Unusually for a conference proceedings the book is well indexed and it is also replete with numerous and up-to-date references. . . . This is the first serious book to examine the rational expectations thesis in any depth, and it will prove invaluable to anyone involved with macroeconomic policy generally and with monetary economics in particular."—G. K. Shaw, The Economic Journal

The Changing Responsibilities and Tactics of the Federal Government

Abstract: In decades gone by, most of what the federal government was responsible for and expended money for it did by itself through its own personnel and facilities. Consequently, much of the doctrine and the lore of federal management, like that of private enterprise, was based on the premise that its efficiency rested on the effective supervision and direction of its own operations. This was predominantly, though not exclusively, the case; federal administration has always worked with and operated through other governmental and nongovernmental institutions to some extent. The thesis of this article is that the changes since the beginnings of the New Deal and since World War II have been of such magnitude as to alter fundamentally the nature of federal respnsibilities and modes of operating, calling for a quite different approach to the role of federal management in American society. The emphasis here is not upon freshly recognized (though old) social and economic problems and new public programs to respond to them-such as equal opportunity, health care, inflation, environment, energy, and others. It is upon the exploding responsibilities of the national government in virtually all functional fields and its carrying out of those responsibilities through, and interdependently with, nonfederal institutions and individuals.

The Impact of Financial Aid on Student Demand for Public/Private Higher Education.

Abstract: Providing for equality of choice between public and private postsecondary institutions is increasingly being considered a legitimate public policy objective of the federal government [16, 12]. Currently two alternatives to achieving this objective are being considered: increased student eligibility for financial aid and tax allowances in the form of direct tax credits. However, to make a selection between these two alternatives requires a better understanding of student public/private choice behavior [7]. Such understanding, in turn, is dependent upon (1) a knowledge of the actual college alternatives considered by students, and (2) more adequately specified models of the student's decision to matriculate at a particular institution. The purpose of this study is to model the variables that affect the decision to matriculate at a public or private institution of higher education. There are two unique aspects of this study. First, only those students who applied and were accepted by at least one public and one private institution will be considered. Second, the study will assess the impact of financial aid variables on the matriculation decision. Despite the obvious public policy implications of such information, no research has adequately addressed the impact of student financial aid on the matriculation decision [18].

Partisan Realignment: Voters, Parties, and Government in American History

Abstract: '...Valuable for its chronological scope and for the many facets of American political history, state as well as national, which the authors cover from their theoretical perspective. It is also well organized and clearly written.' -- Canadian Journal of History, April l982

Research, innovation, and university-industry linkages

Abstract: Carter Administration actions to enhance basic research and stimulate industrial innovation have focused attention on the importance of formal university-industry cooperative relationships in science and engineering. We have examined the status of, and potential for, university-industry research consortia and research partnerships and the current and prospective roles of the federal government in stimulating such relationships.

Public policy: no longer a spectator sport for business

Abstract: When government administrators begin to make more key business decisions than corporate managers do, the time has come to rethink—and reshape—the regulatory process. By seizing the initiative, business may find some unexpected new markets and opportunities.

The Deadly Sins in Public Administration

Abstract: Traditional political theory, the theory inherited from Aristotle, holds that the tasks of government are grounded in the nature of civil society and, thus, are immutable: defense, justice, law and order. However, very few of the tasks of modern public administration, whether governmental or non-governmental public service institutions, such as the hospital, the Red Cross, the university, or the Boy Scouts, are of that nature. The public service administrator who wants results and performance will, thus, have to build into his own organization an organized process for abandonment. Everyone in public administration knows most administrators commit most of the "sins" all the time and, indeed, all of them most of the time. The malperformance of public service institutions may well be a symptom only. The cause may be far more basic: a crisis in the very foundations and assumptions on which rests that proudest achievement of the Modern Age, national administrative government.

Police, Military, and Ethnicity: Foundations of State Power

Abstract: This collection of essays describes and analyzes the ways in which government policymakers go about designing police forces and militaries. The author includes both wide-ranging comparative investigations of the dimensions of the state security phenomenon and specific case studies. Dr. Enloe uses the sociological concept of ethnicity to demon-strate how the armed forces in sev-eral nations have capitalized on racial and ethnic diversity to foster their own goals and those of the government and power elites. She examines this idea by focusing on the ethnic factors involved in the evolution of the South African military, the military-ethnic con-nection in Malaysia, and the role of the armed forces in the conflict in Ulster. The author illustrates convin-cingly that not only individual citizens desire security, but that nation-states themselves are en-gaged in the same pursuit. What often passes for or is justified in the name of citizen protection is in fact done to strengthen the state itself. Militaries are recruited in ethni-cally skewed ways, and increasing numbers of police forces through-out the world have military capacities not to enhance the secu-rity of private individuals, but to protect the status quo of the central government and the nation's "es-tablishment." Dr. Enloe covers an assortment of countries within the framework of her central argument, which is practically as well as theoretically significant. Each chapter can be read on its own, and all deal with currently salient political condi-tions.

The Blurred Boundaries of Public Administration

Abstract: 7I7o an ever increasing degree, governments at all levels are vesting responsibility for the performance of important government activities in "quasi-government" or "quasi-private" organizations outside the traditional government framework. This trend is reflected in the proliferation of federal government-sponsored enterprises, nonprofit corporations, and contract research centers. The most recent manifestation is the nonprofit intermediaries (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, Youthwork, Public/Private Ventures) utilized by the Department of Labor to manage key components of the 1977 youth employment and demonstration program. Proponents of the nonprofit intermediaries argue that their use reflects the "increasingly pluralistic character of this complex society" and the fact that "an either/or, public/private world, separating government and for profit enterprises, has long ceased to exist, if it ever really did."' The burgeoning use of these and other hybrid organizations undoubtedly responds to felt needs, but it also raises serious questions of appropriateness. The Labor Department launched the above-mentioned nonprofit intermediaries as "the only possible course, given the tensions between Congress' expectations and Congress' provision of federal personnel." At the same time, the suspicion exists that the nonprofits "are likely to be vehicles for private entrepreneurs who are pursuing, if not a partisan or private interest, at least a highly personal vision of the public good."2 Granted the appeal of feasibility, democratic governance should also be given its due. "In the new political economy," says Bruce Smith, "the traditional distinction between the public and private sectors has become nearly obliterated through the flow of public funds to universities, industry, nonprofit institutions, voluntary hospitals, social welfare agencies, and other quasi-public entities."3 Wisely, however, he acknowledges the requirements of a constitutional democracy: "An open, thorough debate ... can begin to spell out the main features of a modern administrative apparatus that can mobilize wide energies in society for public purposes, but still be 'steered' by accountable officials."4 * Using government-sponsored enterprises as an example, this article calls attention to the blurred boundaries of public administration and emphasizes the desirability of establishing clear lines of accountability in a constitutional democracy. Government-sponsored enterprises, or their employees, are frequently statutorily designated as private, even when the entities are dependent on government financing. Ambiguities in their status often flow from policy makers' focus on federal ceilings on expenditures and personnel. The alternative of employing government-sponsored enterprises and other extra-governmental institutions should not be excluded when their superiority to other institutions can be demonstrated, but the decision should not be forced by inflexible regulations.

Citizen Evaluations and Urban Management: Service Delivery in an Era of Protest

Abstract: Ats urban analysis has focused on local services as a significant governmental function, increasing attention has been directed to citizen evaluations of these services. Such a focus can be justified in terms of democratic theory, which considers citizen evaluations of government important in and of themselves. It also makes sense in utilitarian terms, in which citizen evaluations provide responsible public officials with important cues about public perceptions of the performance of local agencies.' The role of citizen evaluations of local government services has been the topic of a significantly growing body of literature.' Indeed, such evaluations are increasingly incorporated into empirical work in this area of urban government.3 While some have recently questioned their practical utility to decision makers, the relative position of citizen evaluations in the service delivery constellation remains an open and important question.4 The significance of citizen evaluations in resolving "the central issue of urban politics," the delivery of essential municipal services, has yet to be determined.5 This study offers a model of the citizen evaluation and response process, and, hence, provides a preliminary mapping of the service delivery constellation and the position within it of citizen evaluations. The model is tested by surveying a random sample of urban citizens within a single state as to their satisfaction and desire for more influence across a spectrum of essential municipal services. The practical implications of this study for those responsible for the provision of essential services are then delineated.