Rodney King Riots

8/3/2019 Rodney King Riots

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1. Humanitarian crisisA humanitarian crisis (or "humanitarian disaster") is an event or series of eventswhich represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of acommunity or other large group of people, usually over a wide area. Armed

conflicts,epidemics,famine,natural disastersand other major emergencies

may all involve or lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Categories

There is no simple categorization of humanitarian crises. Different communities

and agencies tend to have definitions related to the concrete situations they

face. A local fire service will tend to focus on issues such as flooding and

weather induced crises. Medical and health related organizations are naturally

focused on sudden crises to the health of a community.

An ongoing or lingeringpandemicmay amount to a humanitarian crisis,

especially where there are increasing levels ofvirulence, or rates ofinfectionas

in the case ofAIDS,bird fluorTuberculosis. Major health-related problems

such ascancer,global warmingtypically require an accentuated or punctuated

mass-event to justify a label of "crisis" or "disaster".

TheInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)lists categories which include different types of natural disasters, technological

disasters (i.e. hazardous material spills,Chernobyl-typeof nuclear accidents,

chemical explosions) and long-term man-made disasters related to "civil strife,

civil war and international war".[1]) Internationally, the humanitarian response

sector has tended to distinguish between natural disasters and complex

emergencies which are related to armed conflict and wars.[2]

ExamplesRecent humanitarian crises include the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake(Asian

tsunami), the2005 Kashmir earthquake,Hurricane Katrinain August 2005,

Rwanda genocide,Sri Lankan civil war,Israeli-Palestinian conflict,Afghan Civil

War,Darfur Conflict,Iraq War, May 2008 Sichuan earthquake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquakeCyclone Nargismade

landfall inMyanmarand claimed the lives of at least 22,000 people[3]and most

recently the2010 Haiti earthquake.[3]. The current (as of 26 February 2011)

rebellion inLibya, if it continues to escalate, may take on the characteristics of

a humanitarian crisis and/or civil war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faminehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faminehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faminehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virulencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virulencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virulencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenzavirus_Ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenzavirus_Ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenzavirus_Ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_genocidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_genocidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-CNN-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_genocidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_crisis#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenzavirus_Ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virulencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_disasterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faminehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War


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Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonwas thecostliestnaturaldisaster, as well as one of the fivedeadliesthurricanes, in thehistory of the

United States.[3]Among recordedAtlantic hurricanes, it was thesixth strongest

overall. At least 1,836 people died in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent

floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the1928 Okeechobee

hurricane; total property damage was estimated at $81 billion (2005 USD),[3]

nearly triple the damage wrought byHurricane Andrewin 1992.[4]

Hurricane Katrina formed over theBahamason August 23, 2005 and crossed

southernFloridaas a moderateCategory 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and

flooding there before strengthening rapidly in theGulf of Mexico. The storm

weakened before making its second landfall as aCategory 3storm on the

morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe

destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due

to thestorm surge. The most significantnumber of deathsoccurred inNew

Orleans,Louisiana, which flooded as theleveesystem catastrophically failed, in

many cases hours after the storm had moved inland.[5]Eventually 80% of the

city and large tracts of neighboringparishesbecame flooded, and the

floodwaters lingered for weeks.[5]However, the worst property damageoccurred in coastal areas, such as allMississippi beachfront towns, which were

flooded over 90% in hours, as boats and casino barges rammed buildings,

pushing cars and houses inland, with waters reaching 612 miles (1019 km)

from the beach.

The hurricane protection failures in New Orleans prompted a lawsuit against the

US Army Corps of Engineers(USACE), the designers and builders of the levee

system as mandated by theFlood Control Act of 1965. Responsibility for the

failures and flooding was laid squarely on the Army Corps in January 2008[by

whom?], but the federal agency could not be held financially liable due to

sovereign immunityin theFlood Control Act of 1928. There was also an

investigation of the responses from federal, state and local governments,

resulting in the resignation ofFederal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA)

directorMichael D. Brown, and ofNew Orleans Police Department(NOPD)

SuperintendentEddie Compass.

Several agencies including theUnited States Coast Guard(USCG),National

Hurricane Center(NHC), andNational Weather Service(NWS) were commended

for their actions. They provided accurate forecasts with sufficient lead time.[6]
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2. BP p.l.c.[3][4](LSE:BP,NYSE:BP) is a globaloilandgascompanyheadquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy

company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and

one of the six oil and gas "supermajors".[5][6]It isvertically-integratedand is

active in every area of the oil and gas industry, includingexplorationand

production,refining,distribution and marketing,petrochemicals,power

generationandtrading. It also has majorrenewable energyactivities, including

inbiofuels,hydrogen,solarandwind power.

BP has operations in over 80 countries, produces around 3.8 millionbarrels of

oil equivalentper day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide.[7][8]Its

largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas inthe United States and is headquartered inHouston, Texas.[9][10][11]As at 31

December 2010 BP had total proven commercial reserves of 18.07 billion

barrels of oil equivalent.[2]The name "BP" derives from the initials of one of the

company's former legal names, British Petroleum.[12][13]BP's track record ofcorporate social responsibilityhas been mixed. The

company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety

incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997 it

became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take

steps againstclimate change, and in that year established a company-widetarget to reduce its emissions ofgreenhouse gases.[14]BP currently invests

over $1 billion per year in the development of renewable energy sources, and

has committed to spend $8 billion on renewables in the 2005 to 2015 period .[15]

BP's primary listing is on theLondon Stock Exchangeand it is a constituent of

theFTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on theNew York Stock Exchange.

3.Rodney king riots BackgroundOn March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving west on the

Foothill Freeway(I-210) through theLake View Terraceneighborhood of Los

Angeles. TheCalifornia Highway Patrol(CHP) attempted to initiate a traffic stop.

A high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to 115 mph first over

freeways and then through residential neighborhoods. When King came to a

stop, CHP Officer Timothy Singer and his wife, CHP Officer Melanie Singer,

ordered the occupants under arrest.[7]

After two passengers were placed in the patrol car, five Los Angeles Police

Department (LAPD) officers (Stacey Koon,Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind,Theodore Briseno, and Rolando Solano) attempted to subdue King, who came
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Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Indexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Indexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Indexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foothill_Freewayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foothill_Freewayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Terracehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Terracehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Terracehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Highway_Patrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Highway_Patrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Highway_Patrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Koonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Koonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Koonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Powellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Powellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Powellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Powellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Koonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Highway_Patrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Terracehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foothill_Freewayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTSE_100_Indexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-AR2010-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-Hines-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-Hines-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houstonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_of_oil_equivalenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_of_oil_equivalenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_powerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_powerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_generationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_generationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrochemicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midstreamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraction_of_petroleumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbon_explorationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_integrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermajorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleumhttp://www.nyse.com/about/listed/quickquote.html?ticker=bphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchangehttp://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-news/stocks/prices-search/stock-prices-search.html?nameCode=BPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stock_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#cite_note-2


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out of the car last. In a departure from the usual procedure, which is to tackle

and cuff a suspect, King wastasered, kicked in the head, beaten with Pr24

batons for over one minute, then tackled and cuffed. The officers claimed that

King was under the influence ofPCPat the time of arrest, which caused him to

be very aggressive and violent towards the officers. The video showed that he

was crawling on the ground during the beating and that the police made no

attempt to cuff him.[8]

A subsequent test for the presence of PCP turned up negative. The incident

was captured on camcorder by resident George Holliday from his apartment in

the vicinity. The tape was roughly ten minutes long. While the case was

presented to the court, clips of the incident were not released to the public.[9]

In a later interview, King, who was on parole from prison on a robberyconviction and who had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery,[10][11]

said that, being on parole, he feared apprehension and being returned to prison

for parole violations.

The footage of King being beaten by police while lying on the ground became a

focus for media attention and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and

around the United States. Coverage was extensive during the initial two weeks

after the incident: theLos Angeles Timespublished forty-three articles about

the incident,[12]theNew York Timespublished seventeen articles,[13]and the

Chicago Tribunepublished eleven articles.[14]Eight stories appeared onABCNews, including a sixty-minute special onPrimetime Live.

4.2011 England riots

Between 6 and 10 August 2011, severalLondon boroughsand districts of cities

and towns across England suffered widespreadrioting,lootingandarson.

Following a peaceful march on 6 August 2011 in relation to the police response

to thefatal shooting of Mark DugganbyMetropolitan Police Servicefirearmsofficerson 4 August 2011, a riot began inTottenham,North London. In the

following days, rioting spread to several London boroughs and districts and

eventually to some other areas of England, with the most severe disturbances

outside London occurring inBristoland cities in theMidlandsandNorth Westof

England. Related localised outbreaks also occurred in many smaller towns and

cities in England.

The riots were characterised by rampant looting and arson attacks of

unprecedented levels. As a result,British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron

returned early from his holiday in Italy and othergovernmentandopposition
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leaders also ended their holidays to attend to the matter. All police leave was

cancelled andParliamentwas recalled on 11 August to debate the situation.

As of 15 August, about 3,100 people had been arrested, of whom more than

1,000 had been charged.[12]Arrests, charges and court proceedings continue,

with courts working extended hours. There were a total 3,443 crimes across

London linked to the disorder.[13]

Five people died and at least 16 others were injured as a direct result of related

violent acts. An estimated200 million worth of property damage was incurred,

and local economic activity was significantly compromised.

Police action was blamed for the initial riot, and the subsequent police reaction

was criticised as being neither appropriate nor sufficiently effective. The riots

have generated significant ongoing debate among political, social and

academic figures about the causes and context in which they happened.

5. Late-2000s recession

The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession[1]orLesser Depression[2]or Long Recession,[3]is a severe ongoing globaleconomic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp

downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire

world economy, with higher detriment in some countries than others. It is a

majorglobal recessioncharacterized by various systemic imbalances and was

sparked by the outbreak of thelate-2000s financial crisis.

There are twosensesof the word "recession": a less precise sense, referring

broadly to "a period of reduced economic activity",[4]and the scientific sense

used most often ineconomics, which isdefined operationally, referring

specifically to the contraction phase of abusiness cycle, with two or more

consecutive quarters of negativeGDPgrowth. By the economic-science

definition of the word "recession", the Great Recession ended in the U.S. inJune or July 2009.[5][6]However, in the broader, layperson sense of the word,

many people use the term to refer to the ongoing hardship (in the same way

that the term "Great Depression" is also popularly used).[7]In the U.S., for

example, persistent highunemploymentremains, along with lowconsumer

confidence, thecontinuing decline in home values and increase in foreclosures

and personal bankruptcies, an escalatingfederal debt crisis,inflation, and

rising gas and food prices. In fact, a 2011 poll found that more than half of all

Americans think the U.S. is still in recession or evendepression, despite official

data that shows a historically modest recovery.[
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ion#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depressionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recessionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_definitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-Merriam-Webster_recession-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_sensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_financial_crisishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_recessionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession#cite_note-wsj_2010-04-08-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_sterlinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots#cite_note-bbc15Aug-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom


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Abstract

We argue that the social construction of target populations is an important,albeit overlooked, political phenomenon that should take its place in the study

of public policy by political scientists. The theory contends that social

constructions influence the policy agenda and the selection of policy tools, as

well as the rationales that legitimate policy choices. Constructions become

embedded in policy as messages that are absorbed by citizens and affect their

orientations and participation. The theory is important because it helps explain

why some groups are advantaged more than others independently of traditional

notions of political power and how policy designs reinforce or alter such

advantages. An understanding of social constructions of target populations

augments conventional hypotheses about the dynamics of policy change, the

determination of beneficiaries and losers, the reasons for differing levels andtypes of participation among target groups, and the role of policy in democracy.

Article ExcerptIntroduction

The study of policy design has made great progress over the past decade in leading scholars to understand whythe American political system produces certain kinds of designs rather than others, and the consequences thatpolicy designs have for democracy. This article outlines the distinctive and important elements of policy designtheory--the centrality of policy design, the attention to social constructions, the attention to policy consequences(or feed-forward effects), and the integration of normative and empirical research and theory. It then suggestshow policy design theory can complement other policy theories in guiding research and evaluating the conditionsof U.S. democracy, and how in its own right it can be further developed and used to guide important inquiry about

public policy's politics and social impacts. The next generation of policy design theory should: (i) expandinvestigation into the social constructions that are ubiquitous in the policy field, especially the social constructionof knowledge; (ii) further develop, empirically and theoretically, the relationship between policy designcomponents and target populations; (iii) empirically investigate and theorize about the impact that policy designshave on subsequent political voice, social movements, and other aspects of political processes; (iv) integrateempirical research and normative democratic theory; and (v) integrate policy design more fully with other policytheories.

What Are Policy Designs?

The importance of policy design (by which we mean the content of policy) has been recognized at least since the1950s, but until the past decade has not been paid much attention, much less given the central role that somepolicy design scholars envision for it. Recognizing that policies contain sets of fundamental elements, or designs,is akin to stating that policies contain an architecture--a text and set of practices that can be observed (Boborow

& Dryzek, 1987). Just as any city has a design, comprised of buildings, streets, houses, parks, airports, sportsarenas, and the like, so too any public policy contains a design. Just as the design of a city can be describedalong multiple dimensions--such as efficiency, esthetics, equality of access, adaptability, sustainability,friendliness, safety--so too can a policy design be evaluated according to a variety of dimensions. Identifying thisarchitecture is a first step of policy research that employs policy design theory.

Dahl and Lindblom (1953) were among the first who noted the importance of policy design. They pointed out thatthe rapid invention of new policy techniques was "perhaps the greatest political revolution of our times." In the1950s, many intellectuals believed that societies would have to choose between socialism or communism on theone hand, and capitalism on the other. Dahl and Lindblom wrote that the creation of a variety of policyinstruments would make choices between such extreme dichotomies unnecessary:

Actual choices [are] neither so simple nor so grand. Not so simple because knotty problems can only be solvedby painstaking attention to technical details ... Norso grand because ... most of the people neither can nor wish toexperiment with the whole pattern of socioeconomic organization to attain goals more easily won. (p. 3)


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Dahl and Lindblom (1953) did not develop a set of categories for specifically describing policy content, althoughthey did discuss a set of normative dimensions for evaluating policy designs (such as freedom, rationality,efficiency, political equality, and subjective equality). Recognizing the difficulty in developing theory or coherent,progressive research programs without some agreement on the fundamental empirical elements of public policy,Schneider and Ingram (1997) proposed the following:

1. problem definition and goals to be pursued;

2. benefits and burdens to be distributed;

3. target populations (the "players" in the policy arena who receive, or may receive, benefits or burdens);

4. rules (policy directives stating who is to do what, when, with what resources, who is eligible, etc.);

5. tools (incentives or disincentives for agencies and target groups to act in accord with policy directives);

6. implementation structure (the entire implementation plan, including the incentives for agency compliance andresources);

7. social constructions (the "world making," the images of reality, the stereotypes people use to make sense ofthe reality as they see it);

8. rationales (the explicit or implicit justifications and legitimations for the policy including those used in debatesabout the policy); and

9. underlying assumptions (explicit or implicit assumptions about causal logics or about the capacity of people orof organizations).

One of the by-products that has emerged at least partly from the Schneider and Ingram (1997) approach to policydesign is that studies of policies now not only typically include the rational and instrumental components ofdesign but also the value-laden components, such as social constructions, rationales, and underlyingassumptions. Earlier design scholarship sometimes defined the "design" part of policy content as only that whichwas logical and "rational," omitting the contradictions, images, rationales, and other design components as they

actually operate in practice (Linder & Peters, 1992). While some dimensions of policy designs are clearlynormative (such as rationales and goals), others are not so obviously normative (such as tools or implementationstructure). All of the dimensions are empirical in that they can be observed directly or indirectly. Once theyidentify the structural elements of a policy, scholars often move to evaluate the design. Depending on theirresearch questions and goals, they might select from a variety of dimensions, such as whether the design is clearor opaque; deceptive or straightforward; inclusive or exclusive; top-down or bottom-up; participatory or closed;filled with mandates or enabling discretion; and whether it incorporates consistent or competing problemdefinitions and social constructions.

Policy design theory posits that the characteristics of design emerge from a political and social process, andthese characteristics in turn feed forward into subsequent political processes. Policy design becomes the centralfocus as scholars seek to understand how, and why, we get certain kinds of design elements instead of others,and just as importantly, seek to understand the full range of consequences that stem from differences in designs.Many of the elements of policy design are substitutable; that is, policymakers choose from among a variety ofpossible approaches to addressing a particular problem (Schneider & Ingram, 1997). For example, policymakers

confronted with the threat of school failures could mandate standardized testing and establish sanctions for"failing" schools; or they could raise teacher qualifications or increase teacher salaries. The choice of designelements reflects political and social values, historical precedent, national trends in ideas about "good" policy, aswell as a host of "local" knowledge that leads to enormous variability in policy designs across time and space.These choices produce policy experiences for those people who are directly affected, and the choices influencepolicy learning that stretches far into the future.

Accounting for, and Considering, the Impact of the Social Construction of Reality

A key strength and contribution of policy design theory has been its incorporation of social constructionprocesses into its model of the policymaking process, policy design, and policy impacts (Ingram & Schneider,1993, 2006, 2007; Schneider & Ingram, 1993, 1997, 2006, 2008). Social construction refers to an underlyingunderstanding of the social world that places meaning-making at the center. That is, humans' interpretations ofthe world produce social reality; shared understandings among people give rise to rules, norms, identities,

concepts, and institutions. When people stop accepting, believing in, or taking for granted these constructions,


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the constructions begin to change; "people consciously and unintentionally replicate and challengeinstitutionalized routines and prevailing assumptions" (Klotz & Lynch, 2007, p. 3). The policy design approachdirects scholars to examine who constructs policy issues, and how they do so, such that policy actors and thepublic accept particular understandings as "real," and how constructions of groups, problems and knowledgethen manifest themselves and become institutionalized into policy designs, which subsequently reinforce anddisseminate these constructions (Schneider & Ingram, p. 73). Constructivist approaches to social inquiry, such aspolicy design theory, emphasize that human agency means that constructions, even strongly institutionalizedones, are inherently unstable and subject to change.

Much of the work applying policy design theory makes use of its propositions about the social construction oftarget populations (e.g., Ingram & Schneider, 2005). Many scholars are by now familiar with Figure 1, whichdepicts a field of target populations and the positive or negative images that policy actors frequently invoke aboutthem. The idea is that target populations have varying levels of political power, and that actors characterize themin positive or negative terms. Schneider and Ingram (1993) suggest a set of four "ideal types" of constructions:advantaged (powerful groups with positive images), contenders (powerful groups with negative images),dependents (powerless groups with positive images), and deviants (powerless groups with negative images). Onthe one hand, this is a dynamic model, and research has traced how particular target groups or their advocatesstrategically work to shift the prevailing images from negative to positive as they pursue particular policy goals.Policy processes often involve contestation over these images as actors seek to justify distribution of benefits orburdens to these groups. On the other hand, there are continuities in the levels of power and the constructions

associated with particular groups, and the packages of burdens and benefits that they typically receive frompublic policies. Indeed, officials seem to gain political capital if they can deliver benefits to advantaged groups(typically justified as universally good for society, the economy, etc.) or burdens/punishments to deviants(typically justified in similar ways). Helping the business community in America is understood to be good foreveryone, for the economy in general; harshly punishing criminals also is understood to be good for society as awhole. Officials may succeed in funneling benefits to dependents, and burdens to contenders, althoughSchneider and Ingram predict that such distributions will usually be tempered in some way.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Target group images seem linked to particular kinds of policy designs. Grounded in empirical research,Schneider and Ingram (1997) suggest that positively constructed groups, on one hand, tend to receive beneficialpolicies with high levels of discretion, short implementation chains, and strong provisions, in the sense that actualmaterial benefits are allocated. Negatively constructed groups, on the other hand, tend to receive policy designs

that distribute burdens often with deceptive, fear-based rationales. When beneficial policy is distributed todeviants, there typically will be low levels of discretion, long implementation chains (some of which areadvantaged groups), and hollow, in the sense that actual material benefits lag behind statements of goals. Someresearch has shown that providing punishment to deviants will result in greater path dependence than policiesthat occasionally provide beneficial policy to persons constructed as deviants--such as criminals (Schneider,2006). Providing benefits to advantaged groups also produces long path dependencies. But attempts to providebeneficial policy to dependents or persons constructed as deviants usually have a shorter window of opportunity,and achievements are more subject to slippage in later years, and more subject to punctuated equilibrium.

The importance of accounting for social constructions of target groups goes beyond a focus on the policymakingprocess and the content of public policies to the impacts of policies. Policies can reinforce these images in thesocial world, as the general public, decision makers, and members of the target groups themselves feel theeffects of policy or observe them. Scholars can think about how policies might work to improve the standing of atarget group by distributing benefits in a way that replaces a negative image with a positive image. As researchon the GI Bill, on Social Security compared to aid to families with dependent children (AFDC), on veterans'

benefits, and on housing policy has shown, these images have direct material consequences for target groupsand influence the degree of political voice they exercise (Mettler & Soss, 2004; Sidney, 2005).

Policy design theory's incorporation of social construction goes beyond target populations to include the socialconstruction of knowledge in the policy process. This is connected not only to issues of target groups, but is alsoanalytically separate. This aspect of policy design theory has been applied less frequently and deserves moreattention. It directs attention to processes of problem definition, interpretations of cause and effect,characterizations of knowledge and information as relevant or not relevant to a policy issue, as technical andscientific are contrasted with anecdotal and impressionistic. It directs attention to the role of experts inpolicymaking and the type of knowledge that causes an actor to be considered an expert. Clearly it linksknowledge to power because some groups or voices thus shape policy, whereas others are excluded in partbecause their knowledge is socially constructed as less reliable, or invalid, or irrelevant. Such considerations areimportant not only in studying policymaking, but also in carrying out studies of implementation and policy impactthat truly consider the political nature of these processes. And, as with the social construction of target

populations, the construction of knowledge that drove the policymaking process may become embodied in the


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policy design.

Policy Design and the Feed(back)-Forward Process

Policy design is not only a critical dependent variable that needs to be incorporated more explicitly into theories ofthe policy process, but is also an independent variable in that it has multiple consequences for society. Next-generation studies need to pay considerably more attention to how public policy impacts the conditions ofAmerican democracy, especially issues of inequality. Some have referred to this as policy feedback, even thougha case can be made that it should be called policy feed-forward, as we are talking about how policy changes thedynamics of future political action. The ideas trace at least back to Schattschneider (1960) when he noted thatnew policies create new politics. Others have developed typologies showing how different kinds of policy shapesubsequent politics, for example Lowi (1964, 1979), Wilson (1973), and Steinberger (1980). The term itself,feedback, can be traced to Easton's system theory and to pluralist theories that posit an equilibrium model ofsociety in which politics produce policy which, in turn, feeds back into the input processes resulting (presumably)in appropriate changes in policy design. More recently, public policy scholars have picked up these ideas(Boborow & Dryzek, 1987; Ingram & Schneider, 1990; Schneider & Ingram, 1993, 1997; Woodhouse &Collingridge, 1993) as have historical institutionalists (Skocpol, 1992).

Lowi (1979) is most often credited with the idea that "policy creates politics," but his typology has proven to bedifficult to use. The vertical dimension of his typology refers to the level of coercion (benefit distribution involves

low coercion; distribution of costs or regulations involves high coercion). The horizontal dimension is whether thepolicy identifies specific targets or whether it consists of general rules that affect the environment of groups. Thepolicy types derived from these two dimensions are regulatory, redistributive, distributive, and constituent.Scholars have had difficulty understanding how these types fit into the two dimensions, but even more important,have found it very difficult to fit actual policies into these types (Greenberg, Miller, Mohr, & Vladeck, 1977).Furthermore, the mobilization patterns that emerge may depend as much on how people interpret the meaningsof the policy as on the two dimensions that Lowi considered important.

Wilson (1973) proposed a typology that also purports to offer an explanation of how different kinds of policiesproduce patterns of democratic participation. Working from a public choice perspective, he identifies the tworelevant dimensions as whether the policy distributes benefits or costs, and whether these are concentrated ordistributed widely. He identifies the types of politics that will result as majoritarian, interest group, clientist, andentrepreneurial. Majoritarian politics results when benefits are widely distributed but so are costs (as in nationaldefense). All people are expected to participate rather equally in majoritarian politics. When benefits and costs

both are concentrated on only a few, those af fected will both mobilize and compete as in interest group politics.When benefits are concentrated on a few, but costs are widely distributed, clientist politics will emerge in whichelected leaders distribute expensive favors to their clients while taxpayers are apathetic. Entrepreneurial politicsoccurs when small portions of society pay the costs to benefit large groups. These last two patterns, clientistpolitics and entrepreneurial politics, result in excessive and uncontrolled government growth, Wilson says, aselected leaders can please the many while extracting funds from the few. Although Wilson's typology seemsintuitively sound, very little empirical research has been using, or confirming, these patterns.

Part of the problem with both of these typologies is that it is very difficult to fit actual statutes or implementationguidelines or "on the ground" policy practices into them. The approach taken by policy design differs in that itcharacterizes the elements of policy designs and then traces their effects--both material and interpretive--ontarget populations, arenas for participation, subsequent framing of the issue, mobilization, and on broader orlonger term aspects of democracy such as equality, access, and political voice.

Schneider and Ingram (1997, 2005; Ingram & Schneider, 2006) suggest that policy design's impacts on four

aspects of democracy should be emphasized: justice (e.g., fairness, quality of life), citizenship (political voice,participation, orientation toward government, identity), democratic institutions (scope, depth, authenticity), andproblem solving (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance). They further suggest that policy designs "best servedemocracy when the goals reflect a balance among democratic values, or when they focus on one or moreaspects of democracy that are noticeably deficient in the societal context" (1997, p. 84).

Current research on feed-forward effects can be clustered into four major types. A large number of studies focuson how policy creates target populations that may or may not be contiguous with social groups, and directsbeneficial or burdensome policy to them (Mettler & Soss, 2004; Meyer, 2006; Sidney, 2003). Some groups maycome to recognize common interests either in support of, or in opposition to, policy, thereby creating unity andenhancing the potential for participation through conventional means, social movements, or more disruptiveactivities. Social security is an example of the effects of a positive, universalistic, policy design that hasembedded within it the idea that elderly citizens are worthy of respect and deserving of the funds they receive.The policy design assumes they are competent to manage their subsidy without intervening case workers or

moral entrepreneurs to insure that the funds are wisely spent (Campbell, 2003; Soss, 2005). The results are a


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dramatic improvement in the income levels of elderly people, and a level of political participation rivaled by noother group. Equally interesting is that the typical relationship of higher incomes to higher participation seems tobe erased in this group--at least partly because of the actual design of social security (Campbell, 2002).

Soss (2005); Campbell (2002); Mettler and Soss (2004); and others all emphasize that it is not just a subsidy thatis important, but the ways in which that policy is designed. The GI Bill, Mettler finds, greatly enhances the civicengagement and participation of people not only because it offers educational benefits, but also because of therespect it confers on the recipients. Soss's comparison of Social Security Disability Income recipients with AFDCrecipients finds that the former participates in much the same way as other groups but that AFDC has adepressing effect on political voice. There is some limited evidence that experience with Head Start programs--ahighly participatory, capacity-building program for mothers of low-income children--has a positive effect onpolitical participation such that even those who are welfare recipients participate in much the same way asnonrecipients.

A second group of feed-forward effects involves specific rules or allocation of resources that differentially impactcitizens (Hacker, Mettler, Pinderhughes, and Skocpol, 2004; Pierson, 1993). Sidney's (2003) work comparing fairhousing and community reinvestment policy designs shows that each poses distinctive challenges to advocates.One traps them in a cycle of invisibility that diminishes public attention to the problem of housing discriminationover time. The other casts them as troublemakers and interlopers when advocates use the law to challenge localbanks. Policies that provide for free public education provide important resources for participation, but policy that

permits ever-increasing tuition costs and restricts access to higher education thwarts greater equality in politicalvoice. The relationship between income and participation is well known, and policy that exacerbates incomeinequality exacerbates political inequality.

Third, policies embed many aspects of the rhetoric in the policy debate and the assumptions or rationales thatsupport and sustain the policy. These include social constructions of target groups, particular ways of framing theissues, assumptions about the capacity of people and organizations (or lack thereof), the kind of language andknowledge that is respected, and so on. These messages are interpreted and internalized by target groups andother players in the policy arena, shaping the way citizens view the problem and shaping their perceptions ofwhether their interests are of legitimate public concern. Welfare policy in the United States persistently sends themessage that poverty is the problem of the individual, the local community, "failed" families, and not the broadersocioeconomic structure of society. Welfare recipients tend to internalize this message and do not mobilize topursue remedies through public policy. Fourth, policies directly affect participation through voting eligibility, ballotconstruction, procedures for voting, design of election districts, and the role that money plays in electing

candidates.

The next generation of policy research should include systematic analysis of the effects of public policy designson the most critical issues of our time, including the vastly unequal levels of political participation acrosssocioeconomic groups, the cynicism people demonstrate toward government, the growing inequality in incomeand education, the framing of issues in such a way that policymakers would rather "win" and defeat their"enemies" than they would solve a collective problem. These analyses must incorporate not only the influence ofpolitical power, scientific learning, advocacy groups, windows of opportunity, but also the critically important roleof social constructions of reality. As social construction of target populations becomes increasingly negative anddivisive, the possibility of creating policy designs that serve democracy decreases. Policy designs need to betransparent rather than opaque, straightforward rather than deceptive, contain positive constructions of all socialgroups and points of view even of those who are "losing," logical connections between means and ends,implementation processes that grant equal access to information and subsequent points of contestation, andarenas for discourse that engage multiple "ways of knowing" the issue.

Integrating Normative and Empirical Analysis Using Policy Design Theory

From the start, many scholars of policy design chose to study public policy because of its important roles indemocratic governance--its potential to solve problems, its potential to embody and to respond to the voices andneeds of the governed, its position as the work of government, the primary task of democratically electedrepresentatives and their agents. Indeed, one of the distinguishing themes in the emergence of policy design andsocial construction theory is a focus on the normative ends of social inquiry. Whereas many policy analysts andpolicy process scholars explicitly...


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Social construction of target populations: implications for politics and policy.

We argue that the social construction of target populations is an important, albeit

overlooked, political phenomenon that should take its place in the study of public policy

by political scientists. The theory contends that social constructions influence the policy

agenda and the selection of policy tools, as well as the rationales that legitimate policy

choices. Constructions become embedded in policy as messages that are absorbed by

citizens and affect their orientations and participation. The theory is important because

it helps explain why some groups are advantaged more than others independently of

traditional notions of political power and how policy designs reinforce or alter such

advantages. An understanding of social constructions of target populations augments

conventional hypotheses about the dynamics of policy change, the determination ofbeneficiaries and losers, the reasons for differing levels and types of participation among

target groups, and the role of policy in democracy.

Contemporary political scientists consider many variables to be significant political

phenomena that previously were viewed either as irrelevant or as the proper domain of

another discipline. The importance of gender in understanding political behavior and the

role of money and media in politics are examples. Although the question of who benefits

or loses from policy has long been interesting to political science, most other dimensions

of policy designs have been considered the purview of economists, lawyers, and otherspecialists. With the emergence of public policy as a major subfield of political science,

however, attention has turned to new aspects of the policy process, such as agenda

setting, formulation, implementation, and consequences, (Arnold 1990; Ingram and

Schneider 1991; Kingdon 1984; Lipsky and Smith 1989; Mazmanian and Sabatier 1983;

Rose 1991; Smith and Stone 1988; Pressman and Wildavsky 1973) as well as additional

elements of policy design, such as goals, tools, rules and target populations (Ingram and

Schneider 1992; Linder and Peters 1985; Ostrom 1990; Schneider and Ingram 1990a,

1990b; Stone 1988). We argue that the social construction of target populations is an

important, albeit overlooked, political phenomenon that should take its place in the

study of public policy by political scientists.

The social construction of target populations refers to the cultural characterizations or

popular images of the persons or groups whose behavior and well-being are affected by

public policy. These characterizations are normative and evaluative, portraying groups in

positive or negative terms through symbolic language, metaphors, and stories (Edelman

1964, 1988). A great deal has been written (mostly by sociologists) about social

constructions of social problems (Best 1989; Spector and Kitsuse 1987). The more

specific topic of social construction of target populations is important to political science


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because it contributes to studies of agenda setting, legislative behavior, and policy

formulation and design, as well as to studies of citizen orientation, conception of

citizenship, and style of participation.

Our theory contends that the social construction of target populations has a powerful

influence on public officials and shapes both the policy agenda and the actual design of

policy. There are strong pressures for public officials to provide beneficial policy to

powerful, positively constructed target populations and to devise punitive, punishment-

oriented policy for negatively constructed groups. Social constructions become

embedded in policy as messages that are absorbed by citizens and affect their

orientations and participation patterns. Policy sends messages about what government is

supposed to do, which citizens are deserving (and which not), and what kinds of

attitudes and participatory patterns are appropriate in a democratic society. Differenttarget populations, however, receive quite different messages. Policies that have

detrimental impacts on, or are ineffective in solving important problems for, certain

types of target populations may not produce citizen participation directed toward policy

change because the messages received by these target populations encourage withdrawal

or passivity. Other target populations, however, receive messages that encourage them to

combat policies detrimental to them through various avenues of political participation.

The theory is important because it helps explain why some groups are advantaged more

than others independently of traditional notions of political power and how policy

designs can reinforce or alter such advantages. Further, the theory resolves some long-

standing puzzles political scientists have encountered in attempting to answer Lasswell's

question, "Who gets what, when, and how?" (Lasswell 1936). The theory returns public

policy to center-stage in the study of politics, offering an alternative that goes beyond

both the pluralist and the microeconomic perspectives.

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TARGET POPULATIONS

A theory that connects social constructions of target populations to other politicalphenomena needs definitions of target populations and of social constructions, an

explanation of how social constructions influence public officials in choosing the agendas

and designs of policy, and an explanation of how policy agendas and designs influence

the political orientations and participation patterns of target populations.

Conceptualizing Targets and Constructions

Target population is a concept from the policy design literature that directs attention to

the fact that policy is purposeful and attempts to achieve goals by changing people'sbehavior (see our earlier work, Ingram and Schneider 1991). Policy sets forth problems


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to be solved or goals to be achieved and identifies the people whose behavior is linked to

the achievement of desired ends. Behavioral change is sought by enabling or coercing

people to do things they would not have done otherwise. By specifying eligibility criteria,

policy creates the boundaries of target populations. Such groups may or may not have avalue-based cultural image, however. Therefore, they may or may not carry out any

social construction.

The social construction of a target population refers to (1) the recognition of the shared

characteristics that distinguish a target population as socially meaningful, and (2) the

attribution of specific, valence-oriented values, symbols, and images to the

characteristics. Social constructions are stereotypes about particular groups of people

that have been created by politics, culture, socialization, history, the media, literature,

religion, and the like. Positive constructions include images such as "deserving,""intelligent," "honest," "public-spirited," and so forth. Negative constructions include

images such as "undeserving," "stupid," "dishonest," and "selfish." There are a wide

variety of evaluative dimensions, both positive and negative, that can be used to portray

groups.

Social constructions are often conflicting and subject to contention. Policy directed at

persons whose income falls below the official poverty level identifies a specific set of

persons. The social constructions could portray them as disadvantaged people whose

poverty is not their fault or as lazy persons who are benefitting from other peoples' hard

work. On the other hand, not all target populations even have a well-defined social

construction. Motor vehicle policies identify automobile drivers as a target population;

but these persons have no particular social construction, at this time. Policies directed at

drunk drivers or teenage drivers, however, have identified a subset that carries a

negative valence.

The actual social constructions of target groups, as well as how widely shared the

constructions are, are matters for empirical analysis. Social constructions of target

populations are measurable, empirical, phenomena. Data can be generated by the study

of texts, such as legislative histories, statutes, guidelines, speeches, media coverage, and

analysis of the symbols contained therein. Social constructions also can be ascertained

from interviews or surveys of policymakers, media representatives, members of the

general public, and persons within the target group itself.

One of the major contentions of some social constructionists (sometimes called strict-

constructionists) is that there is no objective reality but only the construction itself

(Spector and Kitsuse 1987, J. Schneider 1985). Those who make this argument contend

that research should focus on the constructions, not on the reasons the constructions


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have arisen or how constructions differ from objective reality. The point of view adopted

here, however, is more like that expressed by Edelman (1988) and Collins (1989). Target

populations are assumed to have boundaries that are empirically verifiable (indeed,

policies create these empirical boundaries) and to exist within objective conditions eventhough those conditions are subject to multiple evaluations. One of the important issues

for analysis is to understand how social constructions emerge from objective conditions

and how each changes.

Social Constructions and Elected Officials

Research has uncovered a number of important motivations for elected officials (Arnold

1990; Kelman 1987; Kingdon 1984). Two of the most important are to produce public

policies that will assist in their reelection and that will be effective in addressing widelyacknowledged public problems. Social constructions are relevant for both of these

considerations.

Social constructions become part of the reelection calculus when public officials

anticipate the reaction of the target population itself to the policy and also anticipate the

reaction of others to whether the target group should be the beneficiary (or loser) for a

particular policy proposal (Wilson 1986). Thus, the electoral implication of a policy

proposal depends partly on the power of the target population itself (construed as votes,

wealth, and propensity of the group to mobilize for action) but also on the extent towhich others will approve or disapprove of the policy's being directed toward a particular

target.

The convergence of power and social constructions creates four types of target

populations, as displayed in Figure 1. Advantaged groups are perceived to be both

powerful and positively constructed, such as the elderly and business. Contenders, such

as unions and the rich, are powerful but negatively constructed, usually as undeserving.

Dependents might include children or mothers and are considered to be politically weak,

but they carry generally positive constructions. Deviants, such as criminals, are in theworst situation, since they are both weak and negatively constructed. Public officials find

it to their advantage to provide beneficial policy to the advantaged groups who are both

powerful and positively constructed as "deserving" because not only will the group itself

respond favorably but others will approve of the beneficial policy's being conferred on

deserving people. Similarly, public officials commonly inflict punishment on negatively

constructed groups who have little or no power, because they need fear no electoral

retaliation from the group itself and the general public approves of punishment for

groups that it has constructed negatively. Figure 1 shows other examples of how a

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