Richard M. Coughlin

A responsive society : collected essays on guiding deliberate social change

Part 1 The need for social change: facing the slings and arrows - personal reflections on a life of social activism conditions for guiding change authors note a theory of societal guidance. Part 2 The elements of social change: decision making and social change - authors note mixed scanning revisited rationality is anti-entropic normative-affective factors - toward a new decision-making model the responsive community - authors note liberals and communitarians basic human needs, alienation, and inauthenticity polity and the public interest - authors note special interest groups versus constituency representation the fight against fraud and abuse - analyzing constituent support. Part 3 The structure of social change: encapsulation and self-sustaining systems - authors note encapsulated competition on solving social problems - inducements or coercion? unification and integration of systems - authors note on self-encapsulating conflicts a paradigm for the study of political unification the epigenesis of political communities at the international level European unification - a strategy of change. Part 4 The ethics of social change: ethics and change - authors note toward deontological social sciences the case for a multiple-utility conception the moral dimension in policy analysis.

Whose Morality? Which Community? What Interests? Socio-Economic and Communitarian Perspectives

This paper assesses the relationship between socio-economics and communitarianism, both of which have emerged in recent years as notable alternatives to existing theoretical paradigms in the social sciences. Remarkably, despite the growing attention these movements have received, a careful examination of the similarities and differences between them has not been the subject of much study.1 The discussion below will proceed by tracing the development of socio-economics and communitarianism over the past few years, both as intellectual paradigms and as organizational entities, comparing and contrasting their central theoretical perspectives, and offering some speculation about their future prospects.

Payroll taxes for social security in the United States: The future of fiscal and social policy illusions

Abstract This paper examines the validity of common assumptions about the basis of public support for the U.S. social security program. Various rationales for the social insurance approach are summarized and critically assessed. A review of public opinion surveys from 1935–1981 shows: (1) the distinction between social insurance and public assistance was not regarded as important by the public in the programs early years; (2) most Americans are now aware that the system operates on a pay-as-you-go basis; (3) there is widespread feeling that social security payroll taxes are too high, but at the same time a majority of the population thinks program benefits should be maintained or increased; and (4) serious doubt about the programs future is widespread, with many workers believing that there will not be sufficient money left for their own pensions when they retire. The paper concludes that the explanation of social securitys enduring popular appeal and the phenomenon of mass toleration of rising payroll taxes is more closely tied to the perception that the program serves a deserving clientele, rather than a result of the social insurance approach.