Digital Commons Network^™

The Search For Voice: Ideology And Perspective In The Black Community, Phillip L. Clay

Trotter Review

During the last seven years, there has been a significant shift to the right in the ideological perspectives of Amencan political institutions and behavior. Despite some in consistencies, the direction is clear. The term “moderate” has acquired a conservative meaning, and liberals have been split into neo-liberal and neo-conservative camps. At this moment American society is informally declaring that it is not committed to achieving the goal ofequal outcomes long espoused by a mainly liberal national political and institutional system.

The shift to the right is working changes on traditional black ideological perspectives, both among blacks and between black and …

The "New" Black Neo-Conservativism: A Critique, James Jennings

Trotter Review

In this presentation, I will examine some of the general ideas, explanations and logic regarding black life conditions offered by a group of intellectuals who have come to be described as “Neo-Conservative.” I will not concentrate my critique on particular individuals, however; my focus will be primarily on the ideas and proposals that they have offered, especially those ideas that have been associated with public policy proposals.

In my opinion, the media and the scholarly community have focused too much on individuals, rather than examining closely and analytically the public policy ideas associated with Neo-Conservatism. I will seek to critique …

The Public-Private Forum: Good Intentions Randomize Behavior, Robert Wood

New England Journal of Public Policy

Public and private institutions of higher learning coexist throughout the United States in a pattern of diversity that is unknown in any other postindustrial society — and Massachusetts is a prime example of U.S. pluralism in education. In an era of scarce resources and mounting costs, the contrary instincts for cooperation and competition are at work. This article is an account ofa voluntary attempt among private and public colleges and universities between 1973 and 1976 to forge a fragile partnership — the Massachusetts Public-Private Forum — which first flourished, then foundered. Tracing the course of its early successes and final …

Vermont Revisited, William Jay Smith

New England Journal of Public Policy

Vermont Revisited, William Jay Smith's sweet-bitter memoir of Pownal, Vermont, captures the political and social minutiae of a small, rural New England town in transition which continued to preoccupy itself in almost conspiratorial drama with its own parochial agendas, denying, even if not oblivious of, the changes at its doorstep. Yet Smith's observations of the machinations that were grist for the mill of the small-town intrigues are tinged with a sadness, with an awareness of an old order dying, of old values under siege, of a new order intruding itself — less private, more depriving if perhaps more equitable, and …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the public domain, ideas undergird the specific policy decisions that elected officials and administrators make in order to achieve the shared goals their communities and constituencies articulate. Ideas are the pistons that drive the engines of change. The study of change, moreover, is a study of our ambivalence toward it. On the one hand, we embrace it with some assumption of its inevitable desirability, equating it with progress, with our aspirations for social improvement, with our propensity for wanting society to be better off, though what "better off" means often remains unclear and inchoate. Public figures routinely offer us …

The Willis-Harrington Commission: The Politics Of Education Reform, Robert D. Gaudet

New England Journal of Public Policy

The 1980s have witnessed a nationwide movement to upgrade public education, including reform efforts in the New England states. Massachusetts periodically has grappled with the challenge of improving its schools. During the 1960s, the Massachusetts legislature authorized a thorough examination of education in the state. This mandate was carried out by a blue-ribbon panel that came to be known popularly as the Willis-Harrington Commission. In 1965, the commission issued a 624-page final report that included findings and recommendations relating to many aspects of public education in the state. This article chronicles the history of Willis-Harrington and discusses the problems that …

Media Images And Racial Stereotyping, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

To better understand how the local media portray Boston's black community, I monitored news reports from a sample of newspapers and radio and television stations for one month during the summer of 1986. I noted the roles blacks played, the activities blacks were shown to be engaged in, and the events that brought blacks into the news. By comparing the portrayal of blacks in Boston's major media with portrayals in the black media, I sought to understand the criteria that reporters and editors use to judge the newsworthiness of items relating to the black community, and to determine whether (and …

Boston School Desegregation: The Fallowness Of Common Ground, Robert A. Dentler

Trotter Review

This essay scrutinizes the book by J Anthony Lukas, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, to assess whether it presents a valid and reliable account of the issues, people, and events it chronicles. The substantive core of the book is shown to be the politics of Boston public school desegregation. The parts played by the three families in this event are dramatically portrayed but cannot be corroborated and are not interpreted. The parts played by five major policy leaders, when tested against other evidence, are found to be distorted, questionable legends woven in …

Evaluating Reagan Federalism, David B. Walker

New England Journal of Public Policy

Reagan federalism, unlike Reaganomics, has achieved far less than was anticipated in 1981. In this article, the extent of real change in the intergovernmental system is gauged by assessing recent intergovernmental developments in light of the time perspective (1980, 1981, and 1987); the relative significance of federalism within the cluster of Reagan political precepts; the interplay of key actors in the national policy process; and the views of state and local officials. Also highlighted are the reasons that national policy activism has been reduced but not rolled back. Overall, contemporary U. S. federalism is still found to be a nation-centered …

A Public Manager Looks Back: What I Wish I'D Been Taught, Dan H. Fenn

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author, a practitioner-teacher of public administration, writes that the special context of government in the United States, whether federal, state, or local, needs to be specifically explored by schools for would-be public managers. The constitutionally established system of fractionated power at once makes government jobs extraordinarily difficult and provides great opportunities for those who see themselves as partners in the policy-making process and want to put their stamp on the events of their times. Despite the view of the general public, government is made to order for entrepreneurs who are adept at accreting and maintaining power regardless of the …

Editor [Submitted To A Boston Daily], Mary Helen Washington

Trotter Review

Many people in the black community (I among them) strongly object to the "Frontline" documentary, "Street Cop," which was shown on Channel 2 on March 31. But I have even stronger objections to Ed Siegel's review of "Street Cop," which commends the show as "street smart" and dismisses all the serious criticisms of the show from the black community as "not convincing." I am not exactly sure why "street smart" has such a sterling quality for Siegel, but it is disturbing that such a criterion would take precedent over the criticisms that the program stereotypes blacks and Hispanics and misrepresents …

Newspapers And Their Relationship To The Black Agenda, Dexter D. Eure Sr.

Trotter Review

The news media, by print or electronics, influences and shapes society's attitudes; it is essential then, if not vital, that the media accurately reflect every aspect of our society - including the good, the bad, and the ugly. By keeping this nation - as well as the world - in its proper context, we can better understand - and thus better solve - the problems that envelop us, such as racism, sexism, unemployment, hazardous waste, and the consequences of a nuclear meltdown.

To help present an accurate picture of who we are and what's happening around us, the news media …

"Street Cop" Is Not Street-Smart, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

"Frontline," the award-winnnng WGBH-TV series, is airing a nationally televised special on the war against street drugs. The show, called "Street Cop," takes viewers to Boston's inner city for fifty minutes of heart-pumping violence. We see the police take a sledgehammer to an apartment door in search of drugs as the women and children inside scream in wide-eyed terror. We watch police officers wrestle a young man to the pavement over a suspected drug deal, and we feel the tension mount during a domestic argument until in the confusion a woman is arrested for throwing what an officer thought was …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

Less than ten years ago, the Sun Belt states were the focus of the kind of excessive attention we have come to associate with our propensity to assign cause, time, place, and date to account for little-understood social phenomena. The decline of the Northeast was virtually irreversible, according to the new wisdom, the rise of the West and Southwest obviously inevitable. Change had more to do with "the mysterious hand of Providence" or the caprice of oil sheiks than with policy — we prefer being comforted, it seems, to being informed.

Explanations of our condition that reinforce our perceived beliefs …

State Management Systems: The Case For Internal Controls, Joseph A. Mchugh

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article contends that recent managerial improvements in the federal government can and should be replicated by the states. Although effective internal controls in federal agencies and programs had been mandated in 1950, little progress was made until the late seventies and early eighties, when Congress enacted several laws to strengthen federal financial management and the executive branch initiated a modernization program. This happy confluence of events brought significant improvements to federal management as a whole. Now it's time for similar progress in state operations. State and even local administrators should adopt the best features of the federal model in …

Trust, Self-Interest, And Representation In Economic Policymaking: Rhode Island Reconsidered, Thomas J. Anton, Darrell M. West

New England Journal of Public Policy

Industrial policy has become an increasingly central focus of political debate as American society struggles with new and troubling economic realities. Yet despite the importance of this subject, little is known about how the public gains or processes information on these matters, or about the evaluative standards used to judge industrial-policy proposals. A recent referendum in Rhode Island offered a unique opportunity to study these questions. Citizens participated directly in the debate over new industrial policy by soundly rejecting the Greenhouse Compact, a novel and comprehensive plan to "reindustrialize" Rhode Island. Here we report the results of a public opinion …

Originally From Dorchester: Arrivals And Departures In A Neighborhood, Kathleen Kilgore

New England Journal of Public Policy

In "Originally from Dorchester," her portrait of a neighborhood that wrestled — and continues to wrestle — with problems of race, ethnicity, cultural values, economic development, and mobility, Kathleen Kilgore captures the nuances of the small gesture, whether of defiance or gentility, that reveal the underside of social conflict more eloquently than databases or court findings. "The neighborhood," Kilgore writes, "weakened and aged, and forcibly resisted change." But it then began to adapt, the influx of the young and the upwardly mobile providing a lifeline that facilitated a process of renewal and accommodation, in which, in the best sense, diversity …

Mature Industrial Communities: The Realities Of Reindustrialization, Jeanne H. Armstrong, John R. Mullin

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article analyzes the reindustrialization problems facing mature-industry communities in Massachusetts. The findings are based upon our planning consulting work and research projects involving forty cities and towns. The range of these communities includes those which have recovered, are on their way to recovery, and are stable; those which are declining; and those whose status is indeterminate. A variety of factors are reviewed, including unionization; work-force characteristics; the relationship between small and large plants; the characteristics of local companies; location; financing; the availability of land; and the role of local planning. Finally, we present recommendations concerning local action and possible …

The Fund For New England: A New Environmental Philanthropy, Charles H. W. Foster

New England Journal of Public Policy

New England has a new, regional philanthropy, the Fund for New England, which is concerned with the advancement of natural resources and environment in the six-state region. The fund is one of a class of new regional environmental funds/trusts that are emerging across the country. The history of New England's own effort is described at the outset of the article, which also explores the experience and potential of the fund and its national counterparts with regard to advancing the novel concept of contributions in lieu of environmental fines. Finally, the process followed in establishing and operating the fund is examined …

Remembering Who We Were: Boston Books, 1986, Shaun O'Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

Shaun O'Connell's essay, "Remembering Who We Were," gives a Boston perspective to our search for self, identity, and possibility. For its writers, he concludes, "Boston remains a vibrant state of mind, an occasion for sustained verbal reflection, a site of personal and cultural conflict, a city still in the making." And while there may be anxieties "beneath its high-tech prosperity, its high-style glitz and its political clout ... over the separations between the people we once were and those we have become or those we might become" — that "might" will be immeasurably strengthened if policymakers adhere to policies that …

The Double Character Of Daniel Webster, Irving H. Bartlett

New England Journal of Public Policy

Between 1815 and 1852, when people in New England wanted advice on matters of public policy, they sought out Daniel Webster. His extraordinary reputation rested in large measure on his ability to play a conservative role, to assure his followers that the federal Union was sound and that their role in a rapidly changing democratic society was consistent with their historic legacy. In 1850 the message failed and Webster fell.

A Second Chance: Meeting The Needs Of Adult Learners, Elizabeth F. Fideler

New England Journal of Public Policy

Changing demographics and economic factors are focusing national attention on adult learning as a major resource for solving many of the nation 's social and economic dilemmas. However, adult learners, the poor especially, face obstacles to educational advancement even where tuition is waived or incentive grants are given. Despite the considerable recent growth of adult education, the vast number of those who need it the most are not as yet participating. This article examines adult-education practices and participation in general — in the areas of literacy, occupational education, and higher learning — and conditions in Massachusetts in particular. It explains …

The Economic Status Of Blacks In Boston, James E. Blackwell

Trotter Review

In recent years, special attention has been given to problems of racism in Boston. Without question, highly publicized steps have been taken by civic, business, religious, and neighborhood groups to combat racism, bigotry and discrimination. Frequently, these initiatives have also been supported by municipal and state governments or administrations. Strategies for improving the racial climate in Boston, initiated by the Covenant for Racial Justice, the Boston Committee, the Coalition for a Better Boston, and now, the newly created PARTNERSHIP, as well as some pronouncements of Mayor Flynn and Governor Dukakis administrations must be applauded. However, despite such courses of actions, …

Some Observations On Closing The Gap, Jeremiah Cotton

Trotter Review

James P. Smith and Finis R. Welch, along with fellow economist Richard B. Freeman, have been primarily responsible for the much accepted notion that there have been “dramatic” advances in the economic situation of blacks in the recent past. Closing The Gap: 40 Years of Economic Progress for Blacks (CTG) is just the latest installment and reworking of this optimism. Freeman attributed the alleged progress to a “collapse” of labor market discrimination caused by “governmental and related antidiscrimination activity associated with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.” Smith and Welch, on the other hand, have always been somewhat agnostic about the …