Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 07 - December 3, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 05 - November 3, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 04 - October 19, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 03 - October 5, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

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 …

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 02 - September 15, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

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

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

During the last seven years there has been a significant shift to the right in the ideological perspectives of American political institutions and behavior. Despite some inconsistencies, the direction is clear. The term "moderate" has acquired a conservative meaning, and liberals have been split into neo-liberal and neoconservative camps. At this moment American society is informally declaring that it is not committed to achieving the goal of equal 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 …

News & Views - Vol. 06, No. 01 - August 31, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

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 …

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 15 - June 14, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Report On A Comparative Analysis Of The Underlying Dimensions Of Unemployment Among Blacks, Hispanics, And Whites In Boston, Jeremiah Cotton

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

There are four major objectives of this research. The first objective is to determine whether and to what extent differences in unemployment rates in Boston among black, Hispanic, and white workers are due to the following: (1) the differences in the percentage of individuals in each group who experience a spell of unemployment at one time or another during the year, that is the incidence of unemployment; or (2) the differences in the average number of spells of unemployment during the year, that is the frequency of unemployment; or (3) the differences in the average length of time a spell …

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 14 - May 14, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 13 - May 1, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

The Economic Status Of Older Women In Massachusetts, Elba Caraballo, Nita Goldstein

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report presents a list of current state legislative initiatives which directly or indirectly, affect older women in Massachusetts.

Despite the progress made by the Commonwealth in the area of elder services, a significant portion of this population continues to live in dire need. It is important that State Legislators, State Administrators, policymakers and community leaders understand the needs of this population and work to increase the financial resources and enhance the dignity of older women in the Commonwealth.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 11 - April 6, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 10 - March 25, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 08 - February 24, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 07 - February 03, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.

News & Views - Vol. 05, No. 06 - January 26, 1987, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1983-1991, News & Views

No abstract provided.