Routing the Opposition: Social Movements, Public Policy, and Democracy

by David S. Meyer, Valerie Jenness, Helen Ingram

Overview

On one side are the policy makers, on the other, the movements and organizations that challenge public policy. Where and how the two meet is a critical juncture in the democratic process. Bringing together a distinguished group of scholars from several different disciplines in the social sciences, Routing the Opposition connects the substance and content of policies with the movements that create and respond to them. Local antidrug coalitions, the organic agriculture movement, worker's compensation reforms, veterans' programs, prison reform, immigrants' rights campaigns: these are some of the diverse areas in which the contributors to this volume examine the linkages between the practices, organization, and institutional logic of public policy and social movements. The authors engage such topics as the process of involving multiple stakeholders in policy making, the impact of overlapping social networks on policy and social movement development, and the influence of policy design on the increase or decline of civic involvement. Capturing both successes and failures, Routing the Opposition focuses on strategies and outcomes that both transform social movements and guide the development of public policy, revealing as well what happens when the very different organizational cultures of activists and public policy makers interact.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780816644803
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	08/08/2005
Series:	Social Movements, Protest and Contention , #23
Edition description:	First edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

David S. Meyer is professor of sociology and political science; Valerie Jenness is professor of criminology, law, and society and sociology; and Helen Ingram is professor of social ecology, all at the University of California, Irvine.Contributors: Edwin Amenta, New York U.; Lee Ann Banaszak, Penn State U; Frank R. Baumgartner, Penn State U; Ryken Grattet, U of California, Davis; Mrill Ingram, U of Wisconsin, Madison; Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Cornell U; Christine Mahoney; John D. McCarthy, Penn State U; Suzanne Mettler, Syracuse U; Ellen Reese, U of California, Riverside.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction: Social Movements and Public Policy: Eggs, Chicken, and TheoryDavid S. Meyer Part I: Context Matters and Patterns of Influence: Agendas and Alliances1. Political Contexts, Challenger Strategies and Mobilization: Explaining the Impact of the Townsend PlanEdwin Amenta2. Social Movements, the Rise of New Issues, and the Public AgendaFrank Baumgartner and Christine Mahoney3. Velcro Triangles: Elite Mobilization of Local Anti-Drug Issue CoalitionsJohn D. McCarthy Part II: The Social Movement-State Nexus: The Structure and Consequences of Interpenetration4. Creating Credible Edibles: The Organic Agriculture Movement and the Emergence of U.S. Federal Organic StandardsMrill Ingram and Helen Ingram5. Inside and Outside the State: Movement Insider Status, Tactics, and Public Policty AchievementsLee Ann Banaszak6. The Policy Nexus: Professional Networks and the Formulation and Adoption of Worker's Compensation ReformsRyken Grattet Part III: The Nature of the Field: Impacts on Participation, Mobilization, and Identity7. Policy Feedback Effects for Collective Action: Lessons from Veterans' ProgramsSuzanne Mettler8. Rights without Citizenship: Activist Politics and Prison Reform in the United StatesMary Fainsod Katzenstein9. Policy Threats and Social Movement Coalitions: California's Campaign to Restore Legal Immigrants' Rights to WelfareEllen Reese Conclusion: Social Movements, Public Policy and Democracy: Rethinking the NexusValerie Jenness, David S. Meyer, and Helen Ingram ContributorsIndex