| Abstract: | The purposes of this article are twofold. First, from a review of the extant literature on termination of policies, programs, and organizations, we identify the “crucial variables” that are believed to affect termination. In doing so, we develop a descriptive model of program termination. Then, we utilize this model as a hueristic device to examine the termination of federal revenue-sharing programs in 1986. After reviewing the available literature on this topic and analyzing the case of revenue-sharing, the article concludes that program termination is affected by three categories of variables: 1) inherent characteristics of the program in question; 2) the political environment within which termination takes place; and 3) |
