The End of Liberalism in the Administration of Social Casework

Abstract

Problems of administering human service organizations derive from institutional as well as technical aspects of their environments. In contrast to the recent emphasis on the technical problems of "implementation " and "street-level bureaucracy, " this case study of special education and foster care policy emphasizes instead the institutional problems of interest group liberalism. Besides applying the "end of liberalism "thesis to new policy areas, it attempts to extend that thesis by describing behavioral implications for public bureaucrats. P.L. 93-647, the Title XX Amendment to the Social Security Act, and P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Act, mandate perhaps the most significant expansions of rights and entitlements of the 1970s. Yet these laws are vague in their definitions, contradictory in their related provisions, and inadequate in their funding. They base eligibility for service on categorical rather than universal criteria of need, reflecting the play of organized special interests. Inimical to the rule of law, they honor process over substance, establishing only frameworks for ad hoc bargaining instead of authoritative guides to conduct. This process magnifies political conflict by displacing it away from the center of government to caseworkers down the line.