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"There is much talk these days of government programs that do not achieve their objectives. The economist, however, sees a bittersweet quality in even those programs that do achieve their objectives. The crowd at the groundbreaking for the new community recreation center finds it a happy occasion that will soon make available wholesome sports for the young and community-building opportunities for senior citizens. The economist broods: "Yes, but by spending the money here and not elsewhere, we give up the remedial reading program that might raise low-income students' test scores a full grade, and the new public park in the underserved north end of town. And what about the recreational opportunities that local families might enjoy if the tax dollars to pay for this center were left in their pockets?"

It is argued that advocates of pervasive social experimentation in the US neglect to consider its potential effects on citizens' respect for the law & their inclination to obey it. Since habit plays a large part in law abidingness, frequent alterations in law, even when substantively justified on narrow policy grounds, weaken the power of law in general. Leading political theorists' views on social experimentation are reviewed, & evidence about the political costs of such experimentation is presented, based on data from technical reports & interviews with 6 people involved in the administration of various income support, housing, & police patrol experiments. It is concluded that social experiments can have great utility & shed light on crucial dimensions of important policy questions; but in view of their effects on citizens' law abidingness & support for the regime, they should be used with extreme restraint. 26 References. Modified HA

ABSTRACTAdvocates of pervasive social experimentation neglect to consider the effect that suchexperimentation might have on citizens' respect for the law and their inclination to obey it. Since habit plays a large part in law abidingness, frequent alterations in law, even when substantively justified on narrow policy grounds, weaken the power of law in general. Because of their great utility, we should use social experiments occasionally when they can shed light on crucial dimensions of truly important policy questions. But because pervasive experimentation threatens law abidingness and citizen support for the regime, we should decide against some otherwise justifiable experiments and neither expect nor wish for the sort of experimenting society advocated by many social scientists.