Suchergebnisse

The phenomenon of organizational adaptation to new goals is studied in the context of HEW's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Scholars who have studied this subject have generally observed a reluctance by bureaucracies to assign high priorities to new responsibilities, particularly when the agency given a new task does not receive a commmensurate staff increase. As OCR acquired a series of new responsibilities that outstrip its staff increases, changes were required in OCR's substantive responsibilities as well as in its operating procedures. OCR adaptation to these changes is determined by analyzing workload data reported in various congressional appropriations hearings, recent agency annual operating plans, and interviews with 28 professional employees in 4 of the /0 regional offices. Analyses of these data indicate that OCR has generally made substantive and procedural reallocations in line with the new policy directives. Thus, earlier emphases have been replaced by new priorities. The article concludes with an analysis of propositions that may account for OCR's adaptability to new responsibilities.

This research examines the differential impact of HEW and Justice Department enforcement efforts to implement equal educational opportunity policy in four Southern states between 1968 and 1974. The evidence indicates that equal education opportunity remains an unfulfilled goal and that the patterns of deviation from the ideal are at least partially attributable to the enforcement agency. Reasons are suggested for the patterns found. Policy analysts will find clear examples of the impact of both problem definition and implementation on policy outcomes.

The lowered importance of desegregation has been accompanied by a growth of several means of discrimination, eg, special education programs, classroom assignments, differential punishment practices, & demotion of black school personnel. These forms of discrimination are widespread in the South, but occur nationwide. Policies of this type continue to define minorities as inferior. 1 Table. W. H. Stoddard.

The elimination of segregated school districts from the south was brought about by the efforts of the departments of Justice & of Health, Education, & Welfare. These two departments have tended to separate their efforts, so that once the department of Justice filed suit against a school district, HEW would avoid involvement. Review of the 112 school districts in which Justice had become involved between 1964 & 1968 shows that Justice became involved only when black residents of a school district filed suit against that district. Interviews with 20 attorneys presently or previously handling such cases showed that school desegregation suits were most likely to be filed where Justice had previously been involved in voting rights cases, as such involvement typically built up black trust. This suggests that federal agencies must be able to take independent action for minorities, as minorities for which such action has not been taken will not trust the federal government enough to initiate action on their own behalf. 1 Table, 1 Figure. W. H. Stoddard.

SENATOR PROXMIRE: Now, you are required somehow to submit your budget to the Office of Management and Budget, and yet you are considered to be an independent agency. How do you reconcile that contradition? There is no greater power than the power to determine the budget of an agency, to destroy it, and to enfeeble it by simply denying it the resources it needs. How can you be independent in any real sense of the executive branch if the Office of Management and Budget determines your budget? (U.S. Congress, 1974: 1050).

Explores relationship between public school performance and private school enrollment; compares theories emphasizing "market reform" or parental choice of religious or racially segregated schools; regression analysis of 73 counties, 1991-95; Texas.

A review of the literature reveals that urban services are distributed according to bureaucratic decision rules that result in "unpatterned inequalities"; politics matters very little. Here, it is argued that these findings are erroneous due to narrow definitions, a neglect of the political process, unrealistic assumptions about citizen preferences, & failure to consider the nature of bureaucratic discretion. Analysis of mail survey data from 140 large US urban school districts suggests that politics is the major means available to minorities (blacks) to influence the implementation of policies aimed at enhancing their access to educational opportunities. Political action can counter the perceived social class biases of urban bureaucracies. 6 Tables, 70 References. Adapted from the source document.

Runoff primaries have been alleged to limit the ability of blacks to gain elective office. Here, hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of "disadvantage" are tested & conditions under which black candidates could win are specified, drawing on data from all levels of office for 3 election cycles -- 1967, 1971, & 1975 -- in MS. Regression analysis indicates that black primary leadership is not an artifact of the number of white candidates, nor do runoff candidates of either race necessarily have difficulty mobilizing voters. When the first primary is close & the black candidate leads, both black & white candidates are able to rally supporters. Whether runoff primaries work to the disadvantage of black candidates depends on circumstances. It is unlikely that elimination of the runoff requirement will increase the number of black officeholders significantly; other strategies are proposed. 3 Tables, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.