This article illustrates the concepts of morality policy and politics by examining the 1996 Title V federal grants for abstinence-only sex education. Drawing from the existing literature on morality policy and politics, it includes a theoretical framework for the study of morality policy and an analysis of abstinenceonly education as it was shaped at the federal, state, and local levels. Using the example of Title V in Kentucky, this case study well illustrates the expectations of conflict in adoption and controversy in implementation of morality policy. Furthermore, it provides an admonition for practitioners about compromise in even the most contentious morality policy battles.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adolescent Family Life Act of 1981, Pub. L. No. 97-35, 95 Stat.
2.
Bader, J. B.
(1996). Taking the initiative: Leadership agendas in Congress and the “contract with America.”Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
3.
Brandt, P. L.
(1998, September 25). Testimony statement before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Commerce.
4.
Cagampang, H. H.
, Barth, R. P., Korpi, M., & Kirby, D. (1997). Education Now and Babies Later (ENABL): Life history of a campaign to postpone sexual involvement. Family Planning Perspectives, 29, 109-114.
5.
Cammisa, A. M.
(1998). From rhetoric to reform? Welfare policy in American politics. Boulder, CO: Westview.
6.
Card, J. J.
, Niego, S., Mallari, A., & Farrell, W. S. (1996). The program archive on sexuality, health, and adolescence: Promising “prevention programs in a box.”Family Planning Perspectives, 28, 210-219.
7.
Clinton, W. J.
(1995, January 24). State of the union address. The Washington Post. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/states/docs/sou95.htm
8.
Cochran, C. E.
, Mayer, L. C., Carr, T. R., & Cayer, N. J. (1999). American public policy (6th ed.). New York: St. Martin’s.
9.
Conlan, T.
(1998). From new federalism to devolution. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
10.
Connolly, C.
(1994, September 24). GOP accentuates the positive; hopefuls to sign compact. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 52, 2711.
11.
Cottrell, R. R.
, Girvan, J. T., & McKenzie, J. F. (1999). Principles and foundations of health promotion and education. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
12.
Dailard, C.
(2000). Fueled by campaign promises, drive intensifies to boost abstinence-only education funds. The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 3, 2.
13.
Daley, D.
(1997). Exclusive purpose: Abstinence-only proponents create federal entitlement in welfare reform. SIECUS Report: Abstinence-Only Education, 25(4). Washington, DC: Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
14.
Daley, D.
, & Wong, V. C. (1999). Between the lines: States’implementation of the federal government’s section 510(b) abstinence education program in fiscal year 1998. Washington, DC: Fulton Press for SIECUS.
15.
Fairbanks, D.
(1977). Religious forces and morality policies in the American states. Western Political Quarterly, 30, 411-417.
16.
Gilliam, F. D.
(1999). The “welfare queen” experiment. Nieman Reports, 53(2), 49-52.
17.
Gormley, W. T., Jr.
(1986). Regulatory issue networks in a federal system. Polity, 18, 595-620.
18.
Haider-Markel, D. P.
, & Meier, K. J. (1996). The politics of gay and lesbian rights: Expanding the scope of conflict. Journal of Politics, 58, 332-349.
19.
Haskins, R.
, & Bevan, C. S. (1997). Abstinence education under welfare reform. Children and Youth Services Review, 19, 465-484.
20.
Katz, M. B.
(1996). In the shadow of the poorhouse: A social history of welfare in America. New York: Basic Books.
21.
Kentucky Department for Public Health
. (1997). Adolescent pregnancy in Kentucky. The facts 1995.
22.
Kentucky Department for Public Health
. (1998). An invitation to Kentucky communities to join the abstinence education initiative. (RFP)
23.
Kirby, D.
(1997). No easy answers: Research findings on programs to reduce teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
24.
Kirby, D.
, Waszak, C., & Ziegler, J. (1991). Six school-based clinics: Their reproductive health services and impact on sexual behavior. Family Planning Perspectives, 23(1), 6-16.
25.
Landry, D. J.
, Kaeser, L., & Richards, C. L. (1999). Abstinence promotion and the provision of information about contraception in public school district sexuality education policies. Family Planning Perspectives, 31(6), 280-286.
26.
Levin-Epstein, J.
(1996). Teen parent provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy.
27.
Lewin, T.
(1999, April 4). Sexual-abstinence grants put to broad use by states. The New York Times, p. L18.
28.
Lowi, T. J.
(1964). American business, public policy case studies, and political theory. World Politics, 16, 677-715.
29.
Lowi, T. J.
(1998). New dimensions in policy and politics. In R. Tatalovich & B. W. Daynes (Eds.), Moral controversies in American politics: Cases in social regulatory policy. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
30.
Luker, K.
(1996). Dubious conceptions: The politics of teenage pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31.
McFarlane, D. R.
, & Meier, K. J. (2000). The politics of fertility control. New York: Chatham House.
32.
Meier, K. J.
(1994). The politics of sin: Drugs, alcohol, and public policy. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
33.
Meier, K. J.
, & Johnson, C. (1990). The politics of demon rum. American Politics Quarterly, 18, 404-429.
34.
Mooney, C. Z.
(1999, April). The public clash of private morals: The politics of morality policy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
35.
Mooney, C. Z.
(Ed.). (2001). The public clash of private values. New York: Chatham House.
36.
Mooney, C. Z.
, & Lee, M. (1995). Legislating morality in the American states: The case of pre-Roe abortion regulation reform. American Journal of Political Science, 39, 599-627.
37.
Mooney, C. Z.
, & Lee, M. (1999a). The temporal diffusion of morality policy: The case of death penalty legislation in the American states. Policy Studies Journal, Symposium: The Politics of Morality Policy, 27, 766-781.
38.
Mooney, C. Z.
, & Lee, M. (1999b). Morality policy reinvention: Death penalty policy in the American states. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 566, 80-93.
39.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
. (1998, October 12). Facts and stats. Available: http://www.teenpregnancy.org
40.
National Coalition for Abstinence Education (NCAE)
. (1998). NCAE Title V report card grading guidelines. Colorado Springs, CO: Author.
41.
Oakley, M. R.
(1999, April). Explaining the adoption of state fetal homicide policies: The role of social capital in morality policy legislation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
42.
Patterson, J. T.
(1986). America’s struggle against poverty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
43.
Pierce, P. A.
, & Miller, D. E. (1999). Variations in the diffusion of state lottery adoptions: How revenue dedication changes morality politics. Policy Studies Journal, Symposium: The Politics of Morality Policy, 27, 696-707.
44.
Ryan, B. E.
, Colthurst, T., & Segars, L. (1994). College alcohol risk assessment guide: Environmental approaches to prevention. Newton, MA: Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Education Development Center.
45.
Sawhill, I. V.
(2000). Welfare reform and reducing teen pregnancy. Public Interest, 138, 40-52.
46.
SIECUS
. (1999, July 8). House ways and means subcommittee chair questions abstinence-only dollars. Public Policy Updates. Available: http://www.siecus.org/policy/PUpdates/arch99/arch990005.html
47.
Tatalovich, R. T.
, & Daynes, B. W. (Eds.). (1988). Moral controversies in American politics: Cases in social regulatory policy. Boulder, CO: Westview.
48.
Tatalovich, R. T.
, & Daynes, B. W. (Eds.). (1998). Moral controversies in American politics: Cases in social regulatory policy. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
49.
Tatalovich, R. T.
, Smith, A., & Bobic, M. (1994). Moral conflict and the policy process. Policy Currents, 4, 1-7.
50.
Ventura, S.
, Martin, J., Curtain, S., Menacker, F., & Hamilton, B. (2001, April 7). National vital statistics reports, 49(1). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
51.
Vergari, S.
(2000). Morality politics and the implementation of abstinence-only sex education: A case of policy compromise. In C. Mooney (Ed.), The public clash of private values. New York: Chatham House.
52.
Vogel, M.
(1998, September 25). Setting a standard for a new millennium. Testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Commerce.
53.
von Herrmann, D. K.
(1999, April). The politics of adopting lotteries and casinos: An update using event history analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
54.
Wertheimer, R.
, & Moore, K. (1998). Childbearing by teens: Links to welfare reform. The Urban Institute. Available: http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/anf24.html
55.
Wolfe, B.
(1995). Teenage childbearing and economic incentives. Focus, 17(1), 43-45.
56.
Young, M.
(1998, October). Conducting positive abstinence education programs within the limitations of Title V—Lessons learned from Arkansas (and other states). Presented at the annual meeting of the American School Health Association, Colorado Springs, CO.
