FAMILY POLICY IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE: THE CONNECTICUT AGENDA

In 1987 the Connecticut General Assembly made the first attempt in the nation's history to pass a comprehensive family policy. A total of 16 of 26 proposed bills were approved at a total cost of nearly $35 million. Included in the package was aparental and medical leave bill for state employees, a pilot program for displaced homemakers, and a bill to improve access to child day care. This study emphasizes the importance of strong party leadership, the need for comprehensive proposals that appeal to a variety of constituencies, and the importance of the right political and economic timing in enacting family-oriented legislation.     

A NEW DEFENSE POLICY FOR COSTA RICA: CONSTRUCTING REALITY AND THE POLICY AGENDA

This paper examine5 the policymaking progress in Costa Rica, specifically the creation of a new item for the governmental agenda. This new agenda challenges the traditional Itno army" policy of Costa Kica. Following a brief historical overview of the traditional policy, the paper considers the role of specific factors that promote structural conduciveness for the new "defense" policy and the attendant transformation of political symbols and definitions. The impact of the definitional and organizational changes on the implementation stage of policy is explored. This article suggests the importance of studying the role of hegemony in the construction and transformation of political and cultural definitions, an explication of deci- sionmaking as well as nondecisionmaking processes, and the influence of external and internal threats on nation-state dependency.     

NEW ISSUES IN POLICY ANALYSIS—OR AN OLD AGENDA?

The logic of policy analysis in Grover Starling's critique of my article was but a vehicle for his real concern, which is a scathing attack on the Nicaraguan revolution. His criticism that I didnlt use comparative data confuses levels of analysis since my study does not focus on the national level. His argument about the contras not operating in the cotton region fails because the Sandinistas were active and successful there. tie also is mistaken in equating contra aggression with the activity of the Sandinistas against the people of the Atlantic Coast; Sandinistas have committed little in the way of human rights violations. The contras are not llrebels" but really dominated by followers of Somoza. The need for honest and open dialog about Nicaragua is not served by Starlingls veiling of his political agenda within a methodological analysis.     

UNEMPLOYMENT POLICY: A CASE STUDY IN AGENDA MANAGEMENT

Abstract: Agenda management is a process in which governments attempt to prevent policy issues from emerging, to influence the public perception of issues and to shape or delete issues on the current agenda of policy making. Numerous techniques are available and governments may often resort to them for political purposes. Unemployment policy from 1976–82 provides a case study for assessing the significance of agenda management in the policy process. The many initiatives and announcements of the government and their presentation in the media are described. It is concluded that the government often appeared to employ agenda management techniques such as tokenism, symbolic reassurance, postponement and the selective presentation of social indicators. It is noted that the government's handling of the issue followed an annual cycle, superimposed on which was an electoral cycle. Its attempts to influence public perceptions of the issue had direct links with the nature of policy outputs.     

THIRD WORLD URBANIZATION AND AMERICAN FOREIGN AID POLICY: DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE IN THE 1990s

Over the next decade, the demographic and economic characteristics of countries to which the United States government provides technical and financial assistance for economic development will change substantially. Rapid urban population growth, the expanding role of cities and towns in national economies, continued migration of population from rural to urban areas, explosive growth in the size of the labor force, and shifts in the occupations of the labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and ser- vices will require a reorientation of American development assistance. Yet, program objectives and budget allocations of the U.S. foreign aid program fail to reflect these changes in the characteristics of its clientele. The US. Agency for International Development lacks an overt strategy for coping with urbanization in developing nations. Without an urban strategy, the American foreign aid program is likely to incur increasing opportunity costs and fail to address critical problems arising from fundamental shifts in the economic and social structure of developing countries.     

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN ENERGY POLICY

Pietro S. Nivola. The Politics of Energy Conservation
John C. Sawhill and Richard Cotton (Eds.), Energy Conservation: Successes and Failures
Richard H. K. Victor, Energy Policy in America Since 1945: A Study of Business-Government Relations     

NEW ISSUES IN THE LOGIC OF POLICY ANALYSIS

Case studies of social interventions need not exchange relevance for rigor, provided analysts keep three methodological issues in mind. First, certain critical tests can and should be performed to help establish causal relations even when empirical data are limited. Second, "causell is an explanatory category representing a moral judgment. Third, case studies should provide some systematic attempt to evaluate the program under scrutiny. The article entitled "Social-Problem Solving in a Revolutionary Setting: Nicaragua's Pesticide Policy Reforms" by Douglas L. Murray (Policy Studies Review, November 1984) is used to illustrate these issues.     

MAPPING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY CHANGE IN THE AMERICAN STATES1

This article explores an interesting question. Why, despite compelling evidence arguing against their effectiveness, do ever‐larger incentive packages continue to be offered by the states to attract firms?     

THE ROLE OF STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN NATIONAL INDUSTRY POLICY

A decade of economic stagnation has produced a plethora of calls for government action to stimulate economic growth in employment. Arguing that activists federal industry policy is likely not to emerge in the United States, Rasmussen and Ledebur examine the potential role of states in a "federalist industry policy." States presently administer effective programs of financial assistance to business enterprises. These efforts are "rationally parochial" in that their purpose is served equally well by cresting a new job or pirating from other jurisdictions. This paper considers how state programs can be reoriented to serve national growth and development objectives as well as those of specific jurisdictions. It concludes that a subnational industry policy offers a unique opportunity to reallocate existing state resources to achieve a much higher social return.     

THE COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF AGENDA SETTING: THE EMERGENCE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION AS A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE IN BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES

This article compares the emergence of consumer protection as an issue on the public policy agendas of Britain and the United States in the 1960s. Similar forces caused the emergence of consumer protection in both cases. Governmental responses to consumer protection issues also have been similar, but distinctive features of each country's political system are evident as well. The analysis draws upon existing consumer protection literature for each country as well as the author's interviews with a number of Britons involved in this policy area. The principal conclusion is that consumer protection gained each country's policy agenda as a discretionary item. Events of the past few years demonstrate that it is not yet a durable agenda item in either case.