Making moral citizens: On Himmelfarb's de‐moralization thesis

One of the most popular and pressing problems in the attempts of contemporary Western social and cultural commentators to understand these times is the question of whether it is possible to identify a worrisome and unstoppable process of de‐moralization. This process is frequently taken to involve the cutting of the ties and identities of citizenship so that individuals are left to wallow in swamps of anomie and disrepute; swamps in which the supposed achievements of civilization are undermined by the reappearance of activities which are taken to be more reminiscent of the mythical state of nature. In this article I will examine one of the most well‐developed and intellectually plausible versions of this de‐moralization thesis. I will outline and attempt to contextualize arguments rehearsed by Gertrude Himmelfarb in her book The Demoralization of Society (Himmelfarb, 1995). I hope to show that the de‐moralization thesis is based upon a specific articulation of citizenship to civilization. I will then offer aspects of a sociological critique of Himmelfarb and, implicitly therefore, of the connection of citizenship to civilizaton. I will develop this possible critique through an account of some themes contained in the work of Zygmunt Bauman.     

Comparative public adminstration: The United States view in international perspective

In the study of comparative public administration in the United States, there are currently four directions of development associated with bureaucratic and policy models, case and component approaches, the comparative study of organizations, and application. The characteristics of these developments are outlined in this article, recent publications surveyed and future trends discussed. The extent to which there is a peculiarly American or Western tradition in the comparative study of administration is considered and issue is taken with the argument presented by Dwivedi and Nef (1982) for greater autonomy.     

The vice-presidential succession effect: Individual or situational basis?

Simonton (1981) found that accidental presidents do not perform as well as duly elected chief executives. Though this vice-presidential succession effect may be due to individual factors, such as some deficiency in personality or political experience, it might be due instead to situational factors, most notably the failure to be perceived as having legitimate power by those already in power positions. Three studies investigated the relative plausibility of individual and situational explanations. Study 1 examined 49 president-vice-president teams to determine the criteria by which running mates are selected. Study 2 looked at 69 leaders who served as either president, vice-president, or both, in order to discover if accidental presidents can be differentiated on biographical and political background variables. Study 3 scrutinized 100 congressional units in a time-series design to gauge the impact of serving an unelected term as president. The results most support a situational interpretation based on the attribution of legitimate power.     

Ideology in Policy Debates: Congress and the S&Ls in the 1980s

Is a national value such as free enterprise relevant to congressional debates of important economic policy bills? This question was examined using debates of three reform bills that dealt with savings and loan industry problems in the 1980s. To employ free enterprise concepts in justifying policy stands challenged legislators because industry problems contrasted sharply in the early 1980s (overregulation) and later (excesses under deregulation). Research demonstrated, however, that free enterprise concepts dominated the earlier discussions and, intriguingly, were at the center of the 1989 debate about bailing out the industry and reforming it. The conclusion elaborates free enterprise's role and speculates about the influence of another national value on the S & L discussions. Enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery Enforcement Act of 1989¹ capped a decade of congressional struggle with the question of how to treat the problems of federal savings and loan institutions. Popularly known as “thrifts” or “S & Ls,” their status became a matter of increasing concern to Congress as the 1980s unfolded and public indignation over a prospective government bailout of unprecedented proportions mounted. This article focuses on an aspect of this struggle that has a larger significance, namely, the place of national values2 in the genesis of important economic policy statutes. Given the predilections of American society, the value that tends to loom largest in major economic policy debates is popularly know as “free enterprise” or “the market economy.” One may reasonably object that U.S. capitalism operates under a “mixed economy” whose features include enterprises owned or sponsored by the federal government as well as government subsidies and regulation of private businesses. The short answer to this objection is that the term free enterprise is used here in a mythic sense and “myths are an essential starting place for insights into how values shape policy…” (de Neufville and Barton, 1987). In essence, this article examines the following questions: (1) Did congressional debates on proposed statutes relate provisions of the 1980, 1982, and 1989 bills to free enterprise concepts? (2) If so, what adjustments were made in these concepts for the sharply contrasting circumstances encountered by S & Ls in the course of the decade? and (3) How was the peculiar relationship of government deposit insurance of S & L accounts to free enterprise treated in the bills? Two background sections introduce the discussion.