Suchergebnisse

Failure of Mexican Americans to integrate and attach themselves to American political and social life is often attributed to bad personal experiences with political authorities. In this paper, levels of contact and satisfaction with several agencies of government are correlated with measures of political participation, political efficacy, representiveness of different levels of government, and impact of different levels of living conditions among a sample of Mexican Americans in Omaha, Nebraska. Little evidence for the proposition is found. While contact with public authorities among Mexican Americans is low, satisfac tion is high. Satisfaction is not, however, correlated with the different dimensions of support. The system performance-system support hypothesis is obviously conditional, varying from one situation to another.

ABSTRACTThis article clarifies some of the theoretical issues relevant to the concept of termination of public policies. It distinguishes between functional and structural termination, considering the first to reflect an end to policy or program activities, the second to reflect an end to institutional arrangements that have responsibility for policies or programs. Their Interrelationship is analyzed. The authors find that few programs or policies are terminated; fewer bureaus, agencies, or departments are eliminated. In fact, efforts at termination occasionally lead to an expansion of resources. An application of these concepts and this framework in the case of community health care in Nebraska demonstrates their potential utility for understanding termination.

Theoretical issues relevant to the concept of termination of public policies are clarified. Emphasized is the difference between functional & structural termination. Whereas the former reflects an end to policy or program activites, the latter refers to an end to institutional arrangements that have responsibility for policies or programs. Although by definition functional termination should occur as a result of the elimination of the problem which initiated the original government response, most problems encountered by the government are continuous. As a result, functional termination takes the form of policy or program substitution. Four main factors that influence these substitutions are: (1) changes in technology, (2) changes in the allocation of public resources, (3) changes in policy &/or ideological support, & (4) changes in attitudes relative to appropriate modes of service delivery. Structural termination occurs when an institution, organization, or agency either ceases to be or suffers some reduction in resources. Structural termination occurs less often than functional termination, but functional termination is frequently found to signal the occurrence of structural termination. The comment is made that few programs or policies are terminated; fewer bureaus, agencies, or departments are eliminated. In fact, efforts at termination occassionally lead to an expansion of resources. An application of these concepts in the case of community health care in Neb demonstrates their potential utility for understanding the process of termination. 1 Table, 1 Figure. Modified HA.

Complaining is seen as a form of participation in administration. Although the literature recommends greater participation, we have little evidence about what sort of people are likely to complain and what the effect of their participation through complaining will be. The attitudes of people who had complained to the Nebraska ombudsman were compared with a sample of citizens who had not complained. The complainers were found to have a lower sense of political efficacy and were more cynical about government than the noncomplainers. The implications of complaining for public administrators are discussed.