Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Registering The Poor To Vote: Lessons From The 1984 General Election, Ira Colby

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Voter registration and educational programs for the poor and moderate income groups were a dominant political strategy embraced by a number of social welfare organizations during the 1984 general election. This article reviews one such project that registered 4,124 individuals and implemented a follow-up survey of 500 new registrants. Based on the survey, the author identifies a number of voting and nonvoting behaviors that should be considered in future voter registration and education projects. The author also identifies critical policy issues that impede voter participation among the poor.

Harry Lurie's Assessment And Prescription: An Early View Of Social Workers' Roles And Responsibilities Regarding Political Action, Joe M. Schriver

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Harry Lawrence Lurie's recommendations and analyses concerning social workers' involvement in political action are reviewed. By reviewing some of Lurie's concerns and activities from the 1930's into the 1950's in this area, it is possible to gain helpful guidance and insight into contemporary concerns about social workers in the political arena. Lurie argued consistently for greater involvement by social workers in political action as individuals, as members of professional organizations, and in coalition with other groups outside of social work who were concerned with progressive social change. Lurie also articulated many of the conditions preventing effective political action by social …

The Failure Of The Destitute Mother's Bill: The Use Of Political Power In Social Welfare, Eve P. Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although social and economic conditions and prevailing popular philosophies may affect the success or failure of an attempt at change in social welfare policy and practice, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the political forces for and against the change may be more important. In 1897, fourteen years before the passage of the first U.S. Mothers' Pension law in Illinois, New York State Senator John Ahearn attempted such a law in New York. Although the bill was passed unanimously by both houses of the State Legislature, it was never signed into law. The reason was that the children's institutions and …

Electoralism, Mobilization And Strategies For The 80s: An Assessment Of Organizing Trends In The Mid-Decade, Steve Burghardt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Community organizers in the United States have two tasks today: a short-term defensive one of holding back the rightward assault against both the social welfare state and the working class in general; and a long-term, mobilizing task of building a constituency strong enough to transform the welfare state itself. We cannot lose sight of this latter goal, for the method and objectives we set for ourselves in the short-run will greatly determine the feasibility of our long-term goals.

This is no small matter, for the assault on the welfare state is as fundamental to the restructuring of class and social …

The Influence Of Rev. Jesse Jackson's Candidacy For President On Pluralistic Politics: Implications For Community Action, James Craigen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay addresses the significant changes in power relationships brought about by the candidacy of the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson for President of the United States. Specifically, it will attempt to focus on themes or issues reflecting the impact of his entry into the contest for the Democratic nomination as a viable Black candidate in November 1983, and the consequent redefinition of power relationships which occurred not only within the Democratic Party, but between Blacks and Whites, Blacks and Jews, Black elected and appointed officials, and his effort on relative deprivation among the people in the Rainbow coalition that he …

Moving From Professionalism To Political Advocacy In The Human Services--How To Organize A Successful Statewide Political Effort In Youth Services, Milan J. Dluhy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The current funding environment makes political advocacy on the part of social work professionals mandatory. The social work literature on political advocacy is reviewed and categorized into schools of thought. The major portion of the paper, however, presents and then analyzes a case study of a statewide youth services association in order to gain more insight into how professional social workers can develop and use more successful political strategies and tactics.

The Relative Effectiveness Of Legislative Campaigning In A School Of Social Work, L. K. Northwood, Mike Parker

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There are three interrelated strategies commonly used by social workers for coping with the conservative attack on social welfare institutions: client advocacy, electoral, and policy strategies. The paper evaluates the relative effectiveness of the policy strategy when 532 members of a school of social work were asked to write their legislators in support of progressive legislation. Five indicators of the relative effectiveness of this campaign were identified and assessed. The campaign is adjudged relatively effective from the standpoint of enlisting and motivating participants "ready for service or action' (action potential); in implementing a formal plan or organization--a "connected series of …

Reaganomics And The Welfare State, Mimi Abramovitz, Tom Hopkins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Supply-side tax and spending policies have intensified poverty, unemployment and inequality, especially for women, minorities and organized labor. At the same time Reaganomics is shrinking and weakening the welfare state. To better understand and resist this conservative assault it is necessary to demystify the "economics" and "politics" of supply-side doctrine. This paper (a) defines the basic assumptions of supply-side economics; (b) identifies some of its problems and contradictions; (c) discusses its impact on the welfare state; and (d) analyzes it as part of a broader plan for coping with the current economic crisis. It argues that the supply-side tax cut …

Social Work Pac's And State Social Work Associations Purpose, History, And Action Strategies, Gary Mathews

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work as a profession has only recently become politically active. One consequence of this interest in the political process has been the proliferation of political action committees as creatures of the National Association of Social Workers and its state chapters. Social work PAC's are a key ingredient necessary to enable the profession to influence public policy. Perhaps because political action committees are new to NASW, or perhaps because NASW is new to politics, very little has been written about the history, purpose or strategic implications of these committees.

This paper will trace the development and operation of PAC's and …

Policy Traditions In American State Politics, Robert L. Savage

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An examination of the states across a wide range of policy innovations during three historical periods reveals policy traditions having distinctive geographic limits roughly conforming to major regions commonly recognized in American politics. Only two of these traditions, the "Southern Parochial" and the "Northeastern Bureaucratic," persist across time and even these have been weakened. This provides some evidence that while multilinear evolution along regional lines will continue to contribute to differences in policy values among the American states in the foreseeable future, sociocultural integration is the stronger dynamic in American political development, especially since about 1930.

Staff Activities In The Texas House Of Representatives, David F. Prindle, James Burshtyn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this study multivariate analysis is applied to the allocation of staff time among members of the Texas House of Representatives. Ideology of the representative is found to be an important factor in explaining differences in staff behavior. Chief staffers serving liberal Democrats and Republicans report spending less time on constituency service, and more time on policy research, than do staffers serving conservative Democrats. There are differences between the parties, but not between the ideologies, on time spent with lobbyists. Other variables, such as urban population of the district, and the years a legislator has served in the House, show …

An Advocacy Approach For More Effective Program Delivery And Coordination: A Case Study Of Maine's Housing Rehab Techs, Kenneth K. Ahn, James F. Horan, G. Thomas Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A detailed case analysis of the Maine Housing Rehabilitation Project provides an exploratory observation of the innovative use of human resources at the federal, state and regional levels through an evolutionary development process of housing rehabilitation technicians. Functioning largely as advocate planners and human service delivery administrators through self-expanded roles, these individuals were able to promote change in the context of this intergovernmental environment. The analysis presented here reveals findings of intrastate regional differences between the urban and rural areas. Low income citizens appear to be the main beneficiaries of a proactive style of leadership that was performed by the …

Alternative Service Delivery Strategies: Factors In States' Decision Making, Harold W. Demone Jr., Margaret Gibelman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article focuses on the range of choices and factors affecting state level decision making about how human services are to be delivered. In light of the dual thrusts of decentralization and privatization, the viability of public-private partnerships through contracting for services is explored. Among the significant factors affecting decisions about alternative forms of service delivery are: political and fiscal preferences; the strength of organized labor; the role and availability of the private service sector and history with purchase of service. The advantages and disadvantages attributed to a contracting model for delivering services are unlikely to be argued from an …

The Impact Of Women Legislators On Introduction Of Social Legislation Into A Southern State House, Marjorie A. Baney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The study investigated the interest of male and female legislators in social legislation as measured by the number of bills each group introduced. Legislators included in the study were the entire female population of the North Carolina General Assembly House of Representatives serving between January and July 1981, and an equal number of their male colleagues randomly selected. Comparisons of the female and male legislators in the study criteria such as number of legislative terms served, relative power of committees on which they served, number of committee chairpersonships and independent rankings and effectiveness by colleagues, lobbyists and the media revealed …

An Australian Test Of Economic And Political Models Of Welfare State Expenditures: 1945 - 1979, Gordon W. Ternowetsky, Maurreen P. Clissold

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper tests 'political' and 'economic' models of welfare expenditure with post-World War II Australian data. The major antecedents of welfare spending for the overall time period (1945-1979) appeared to be economic growth as mediated by the age of the population and program incrementalism. It was shown, however, that this view misleads rather than clarifies the influence of different factors during specific periods within the overall time series. A periodization of welfare spending was found to be more useful. The periodization analysis showed that the influence of politics on welfare spending is important. Right political strength was found to have …

The Political Influence Of Older Americans, John B. Williamson, Linda Evans, Lawrence A. Powell, Sharlene Hesse-Biber

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay explores the future prospects for the political influence of older Americans. Some analysts contend that the next fifty years will bring a marked increase in the political influence of the elderly. Others argue that the aged are unlikely to become a significant political influence at any time in the forseeable future. We review the relevant evidence and conclude that it is not entirely consistent with either of these positions. Our analysis suggests a third alternative, that there will be a marked increase in the political resources of the elderly, which will not necessarily translate into an increase in …

Welfare Legislation And American Poverty Traps: Ironies And Characteristics, Theresa Villanueva, Richard J. Caston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We argue that legislative attempts to establish bureaucratic programs to eradicate American poverty will invariably result in ironic inconsistencies that will doom such programs to only limited or partial success. As an illustration, we examine the ironic history of the AFDC program as it has been legislated to deal with American poverty. Three sociological accounts for the ironies of welfare programming are then drawn together. One account suggests that undue concern over the work ethic has overridden more direct concern for the deprecating living conditions of the Door. A second account suggests that poverty is so functionally beneficial to a …

The Reagan Election And Mandate: Their Fiscal Policy Implications For The Welfare State, James Fendrich, Douglas St. Angelo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper has three main thrusts. The first searches the Reagan campaign, the 1980 Republican Platform, the election and survey results to determine whether or not Reagan can creditably lay claim to a mandate for his social policies. The second thrust investigates the 1982 Reagan spending and taxing programs. Our purpose here is to ascertain if those policies denote major new directions in U.S. social policy. Our third purpose involves an assessment of the Reagan fiscal policies upon the U.S. economy.

This study concludes: (1) Reagan can claim a mandate for much of his social policies, (2) the Reagan fiscal …

Factors Influencing Senate Voting Patterns On Social Work Related Legislation, Joyce Littell Smith, Gail Marie Sullivan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study analyzes several influences on Senate voting patterns on key legislation selected by NASW. Party affiliation, region, ratio of NASW registered social workers to state population, liberal and conservative ideology, and judgment of social work were found to be significantly associated with voting patterns. Results of a questionnaire distributed to each Senator indicate a favorable perception of the field of social work.

Nonviolent Agencies In The Northern Ireland Struggle: 1968-1979, Alfred Mcclung Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Northern Ireland struggle has enlisted or given birth to a great many social welfare organizations allegedly dedicated to the nonviolent solution of the area’s problems. These consist principally of three types: (1) agencies of religious denominations or groups of denominations, (2) voluntary social work, demonstration, and protest societies, and (3) political actionist bodies. Those of the first two types face the pitfalls of the ready middleclass recourse to conscience-soothing rituals and to compromise at the expense of lowerclass and ethnic outgroup interests. Those of the third type include ones that are effective, but some tend to fall into lowerclass …

Will Carter's Welfare Reform Plan Reform Welfare?: Evidence From Empirical Research, Mary Bryna Sanger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper introduces the central dimensions which have emerged in the current welfare reform debate. They include adaquacy, work incentives, family stability and cost. The last legislative session introduced a new group of "welfare reform" proposals, each attempting to address these critiques of the current welfare system. Considering four major bills including Carter's Comprehensive Program for Better Jobs and Income on the basis of recent research findings, results in a tentative preference for Carter's plan. It addresses the major reform dimensions better than the others and would result in modest improvements. Nevertheless, true reform is unlikely to be achieved by …

The "Guestworker" As Metaphor: In Clarification Of Social Economic Contradictions And Systemic Crisis., Stephen I. Woods

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In May 1979 the French National Assembly passed legislation giving the government sweeping powers to expel foreign workers. Yet neither the government nor the employers really want to send most of the immigrant workers home, and thereby lose them as a source of cheap labor for both public and private enterprise. It is likely that the employers hope to use the new legislation to keep foreign workers in a state of permanent insecurity, to discourage them from protesting against their low pay, poor working conditions and the racism they encounter daily. Indeed, employers would like to see foreign workers treated …

Social Polics And Social Welfare Administration, Bernard Neugeboren

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Effective administration of social welfare programs requires the integration of knowledge of social policy with the understanding of the theory and practice of management and administrative decision making. This integration of substantive knowledge of social policy with administrative practice is needed to avoid overemphasis on means to the detriment of the goals of social programs. This paper discusses a policy analysis framework in relationship to a model of decisionmaking which includes rational and non-rational elements. Principles of policy formulation (major system change) is applied to specific issues in social welfare, i.e. should social services be directed at changing the individual …

Social Control Or Social Wage: On The Political Economy Of The "Welfare State", Paul Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Discussion between liberal apologists for the "welfare state" and their radical critics has tended in recent years to focus on the question of "social control." In this area the corporate liberals and social democrats (the "welfare statists") are weak. They talk of the "welfare state" as if, at least in principle, it represented the collective assumption by society of responsibility for the basic needs and dependencies of its members. Insofar as "social control" is relevant for them, it has to do with society's exercise of restraint over the selfish pursuit of private profit.1 Radical critics of the "welfare state," on …

A Political Economy Critique Of The American Welfare State, Gerben Dejong

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite its rapid expansion over the last decade, the American welfare state appears unable to remedy many of the social problems it has been designated to solve. In many instances, the welfare state has become as much a part of the problem as the solution. Unfortunately, most proposals to reform the welfare state do not go beyond the liberalconservative conception of the welfare state as a backup to the capitalist market system. This conception of the welfare state is part of a larger comitment to a free market-pluralist ideology that singles out certain social phenomena as problematic and limits the …

Forward To Our Origins: Social Work Skills And Political Action In The Current Crisis, Bertram A. Weinert

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The last decade of the 19th century and the years prior to World War I was an exciting and fruitful period in United States history. It was a time of unrest, but characterized by vigorous discontent, not cynicism or despair. There was an aggressive optimism that fostered confidence in social action, even to the belief that poverty could be abolished. The failure to achieve that goal remains our burden today, but to have begun the struggle then was a significant step. It was the developing profession of social work that initiated that battle against poverty.

The Soft Spot: How To Attack The Pentagon, Marion Anderson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Have you been wondering why al I the ideas you learned in Economics I haven't been working? Why the forecasts made at summit meetings of economists seem to go wrong? Why the U.S. economy, in utter disregard of all the rules of classical economics, suffers rising inflation and rising unemployment at the same time?

Well, there are reasons. Reasons that establishment economists have not wanted to face, and sti I I refuse to face, because the great myth of the last three decades would then be exposed. The myth is that we are so rich, so productive and so favored …

Influencing Welfare/Warfare Priorities Through The New Budgetary Process, Ann Blalock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the previous article, Weinert challenged social workers, and other professionals in the area of social welfare, to commit themselves to greater collective political action in the interest of substantial social change. He suggested that there are many options for movement in that direction. This article briefly discusses one incremental option within the established political system, intervention within the new Congressional budgetary process. This is not an insignificant strategy. Its purpose is to influence the way the national budget is constructed. The budget incorporates to an important degree the society's prevailing definition of its priorities. Furthermore, future policy alternatives are …

The Conservative Program For The Welfare-Warfare State: The Response To The Korean, Algerian, And Vietnamese Wars, Clarence Y.H. Lo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper explains why the leaders of conservative political parties were so successful in the aftermith of limited wars. Conservative parties are those parties whose constituency is large and small business, managers, upper income professionals, and some white collar workers and farmers, exemplified by the Republican Party in the United States, the Gaullist Party in France, the Christian Democrats in Germany and Italy, and the Conservative Party in England. Conservative political leaders rose to power because they addressed the problems intensified by limited wars-- budget deficits, political stalemate, and inter-imperialist rivalries-- and, to some extent, enacted short term solutions--budget cuts, …

The Politics Of Funding: Human Needs And Social Welfare, Robert F. Kronick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Sociological theory has provided two models that attempt to explain social power and decision making in America, the elite model (Mills) and the pluralist model. Mills saw power in America like particles dispersed in a triangle--with more and more power at the top, but more people at the base of the triangle. For Mills there was a powerful elite that ruled almost like a monarchy and decision making on all fronts was vested in them. Rebellion as utilized in Merton's paradigm would turn this triangle upside down in setting up new goals and new means, as well as distributing power …