Social Policy and American Institutions

Past Projects – 1990s

• U.S. Scientists and Public Interest Organizations: Aims and Limits: The “ivory tower” of science is a misleading stereotype according to which science and society exist largely in isolation from each other. The public, policymakers, and many researchers have paid insufficient attention to the mechanisms for interchange between science and society that have developed since World War II. This study examined two such mechanisms: governmental science policy (often involving the participation of "scientist administrators") and scientists’ voluntary public-interest associations. Scientists from many disciplines and students of public policy offered their recollections and materials, and the MIT archives were made available. The resulting book also looks at the activities of citizen-scientists who have organized themselves to promote the welfare of society. It shows that their numerous and diverse organizations have made major contributions and have helped to prevent science from becoming either too subservient to government or too autonomous.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1998-2002
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gerald Holton (Harvard University)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Ivory Bridges: Connecting Science and Society,” by Gerhard Sonnert, with Gerald Holton. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002. Available from publisher.
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: William F. Milton Fund of Harvard University, American Academy
  
  
• Social Capital and Public Affairs: The critical importance of civic engagement to issues of democratization and economic development, in the U. S. and in developing countries, was the focus of this Academy project. With the aim of sharpening the concept of “social capital” — that is, social networks, norms, institutions and trust — through sustained dialogue among social theorists and empirical researchers, the project had three main areas of focus: economic development, American urban and social issues, and democratic governance. The resulting volume on democratic governance sought to unravel why — in an era when democracy as a form of government has triumphed in many parts of the world — citizens of the most established and prosperous democracies (United States and Canada, Western European nations, and Japan) increasingly report dissatisfaction and frustration with their governments.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1994-2000
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert D. Putnam (Harvard University)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Disaffected Democracies: What’s Troubling the Trilateral Countries?” eds. Susan J. Pharr and Robert D. Putnam. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Available from publisher.
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, American Academy
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: The Trilateral Commission
  
  
• Initiatives for Children: To address a deepening crisis in the lives of America’s children, a steering committee was formed in 1991 to explore how the Academy could increase the nation’s commitment to and investment in children. The resulting Initiatives for Children (IFC) stimulated research focused on the health, welfare, and educational needs of our children. Through its own projects and in partnership with a wide variety of public and private organizations, IFC stressed the importance of solid data and sound evidence as the basis for implementing policies affecting children. The IFC aimed to bridge the gap between academia and the world in which children live. Among the social policy-oriented projects supported by the IFC were: The Effects on Children of Changes in Family Income Supports, chaired by Richard Behrman (Packard Center on the Future of Children), which examined the changing landscape of the welfare system, especially the effects on children of mothers returning to work; Indicators of Children’s Living Situation, directed by Christopher Jencks (Northwestern University), which analyzed existing data and developed indicators for measuring children’s well-being; and the Active Girls Initiative, led by Howard Hiatt (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and Ellen Payzant (Boston), to promote healthy behavior and self-esteem among Boston inner-city middle-school girls through physical activity and health education.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1991-2000
  PROJECT DIRECTOR: Howard Hiatt (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)
  SELECTED RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Welfare to Work,” edited by Richard E. Behrman. The Future of Children, vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 1997. Available from publisher.
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: Commonwealth Fund, Foundation for Child Development, D’egville Foundation, Inc., Ford Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Spencer Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, John W. Alden Trust, Boston Foundation, Jesse B. Cox Charitable Lead Trust, Charles Hayden Foundation, State Street Foundation, Hasbro Children’s Foundation, Howard Hiatt, MIT, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS: Boston Public Schools, Cambridge Public Schools, Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council, Boston Partners in Education, Center for the Future of Children 
  
  
• German and American Refugee and Migration Policies: Among the advanced industrial countries, the United States and Germany have the largest number of immigrants in terms of percentage of population. In both countries, migration is a major political, economic and social issue, with both societies affected by the acculturation, or non-acculturation, of different ethnic, racial, or religious migrant groups. German and American scholars met in three working groups and discussed admissions policy, absorption of immigrants, and policies that receiving and sending countries might adopt together to reduce the increasing numbers of refugees and migrants. This study resulted in five volumes comparing migration in the United States and Germany; many of the policy issues discussed are still controversial and relevant to today’s political agenda.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1995-1998
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Myron Weiner (MIT) and Klaus J. Bade (University of Osnabruck, Federal Republic of Germany)
  RESULTING PUBLICATIONS:
  Book Series: Migration and Refugees: Politics and Policies in the United States and Germany
  
  “Migration Past, Migration Future: Germany and the United States,” Vol. 1, eds. Klaus J. Bade and Myron Weiner. New York: Berghahn Books, 1997.
  
  “Migrants, Refugees, and Foreign Policy: US and German Policies Toward Countries of Origin,” Vol. 2, eds. Rainer Münz and Myron Weiner. New York: Berghahn Books, 1997.
  
  “Immigration Admissions: The Search for Workable Policies in Germany and the United States,” Vol. 3, eds. Kay Hailbronner, David A. Martin, and Hiroshi Motomura. New York: Berghahn Books, 1997.
  
  “Immigration Controls: The Search for Workable Policies in Germany and the United States,” Vol. 4, eds. Kay Hailbronner, David A. Martin, and Hiroshi Motomura. New York: Berghahn Books, 1998.
  
  “Paths to Inclusion: The Integration of Migrants in the United States and Germany,” Vol. 5, eds. Peter Schuck and Rainer Münz. New York: Berghahn Books, 1998.
  Books available from publisher.
  
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: German-American Academic Council Foundation, Gottlieb-Daimler- and Karl Benz-Foundation
  
  
• The Public Television Project: This project focused on the meaning of “public interest” communication in a 500-channel marketplace, with particular emphasis on television’s failure to fulfill its potential as an educational medium. Although broadcasters are licensed by the government to serve the public interest, market forces led broadcasters to cater to their advertisers, rather than the public. The project’s leaders issued their report as a challenge to the American people to demand better educational and informational programs for children, and more parental control of violence on television. They argue that invoking the First Amendment as a defense of unrestricted freedom to broadcast is improper. The resulting book, “Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the First Amendment,” won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association in 1996.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1992-1995
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Newton N. Minow and Craig L. LaMay (both of Northwestern University)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the First Amendment,” by Newton N. Minow and Craig L. LaMay. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995. Available from publisher.
  SOURCE OF FUNDING: Carnegie Corporation of New York
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: Carnegie Corporation of New York
  
  
• The Legal Cultures Project: In 1993, this project sponsored a multidisciplinary conference on the relationship between legal systems and the cultures in which they are embedded, with particular emphasis on the legal profession. The editors explain that the concept of “legal culture” as they use it refers to living law or law as a dynamic process, in contrast to texts of statutes or organizational charts describing legal institutions. The authors agree that the concept of “legal culture” reflects something real in the living law of various legal systems of the world and that at least “dim outlines” of a world legal culture are visible, a subject they believe deserving of attention and further research by legal scholars and social scientists.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1988-1996
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Lawrence M. Friedman (Stanford Law School), and Harry N. Scheiber and Martin M. Shapiro (both of Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Legal Culture and the Legal Profession,” eds. Lawrence M. Friedman and Harry N. Scheiber. Boulder: Westview Press, 1996. (out of print)
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: University of California Humanities Research Institute; Stanford Law School; Center for the Study of Law and Society at Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS: University of California Humanities Research Institute; Stanford Law School; Center for the Study of Law and Society at Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
  
  
• Broadening Perspectives on Homelessness: Despite its wealth and high standard of living, America in the 1980s saw an unexpected rise in the number of its homeless people. Few domestic social problems, with the exception of AIDS, received more public discussion, media coverage, and social science research. In 1990, the Academy co-sponsored an interdisciplinary symposium focused on trends in current scholarship on homelessness. Participants addressed such topics as: new approaches in the study of homelessness; poverty and homelessness; and institutional, political, and ideological barriers to providing services for the homeless. The published volume critically examined the shortcomings of the research into the causes of homelessness and addressed barriers to remedying this social problem.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1990-1994
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: David A. Snow (University of Arizona) and David Easton (University of California, Irvine)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Broadening Perspectives on Homelessness,” eds. David Snow and M. Gerald Bradford. American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 37, no. 4, February 1994. Available from publisher.
  SOURCE OF FUNDING: University of California, Los Angeles
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: University of California, Los Angeles
  
  
• Medical Education and Health Services to the Poor and Medically Underinsured: In the early 1990s, America began to realize it faced a crisis in health care spending and equitable and adequate health care for all. The Academy organized a four-day conference exploring this subject. Topics included the history of the role of physicians and academic hospitals in caring for the poor; trends in the ability of poor and medically underinsured individuals to obtain medical care; what medical education can do to improve care for the poor; the impact of health care reform on the poor; and recent trends in health care, with an emphasis on implications for teaching hospitals in caring for poor patients. The final day was devoted to identifying problems and potential solutions, and making recommendations for reform. The edited report was distributed to U.S. medical school deans; government and nongovernment officials working on national health care reform; and health care leaders in California, the focus of much of the conference.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1991-1993
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: G. Robert Mason (Loyola University of Chicago) and Sherman M. Mellinkoff (University of California, Los Angeles)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Medical Schools and Poor Patients: Report on the Conference, Medical Education and Health Services to the Poor and Medically Underinsured,” ed. Dennis Flanagan. American Academy of Arts and Sciences and University of California, Los Angeles, 1993. (out of print)
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Commonwealth Fund
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: University of California, Los Angeles
  
  
• The Future of the Automobile in the Urban Environment: The Academy designed this study to act as a roadmap for transportation policymakers, students, and concerned citizens. Calling for changes in policies and social habits, the report offers strategies to minimize and resolve the problems raised by the increasing use of automobiles in urban areas. The final study, published in 1993, was in high demand, with thousands of industry officials, educators, public interest groups, and government officials requesting copies.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1990-1993
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Elmer W. Johnson (Kirkland & Ellis)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Avoiding the Collision of Cities and Cars: Urban Transportation Policy for the Twenty-first Century,” ed. Elmer W. Johnson. Cambridge: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1993. (out of print)
  SOURCES OF FUNDING: Joyce Foundation, Energy Foundation, American Academy, U. S. Department of Transportation
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION: The Aspen Institute
  
  
• Congress and Foreign Policy: This study brought together political scientists specializing in U.S. foreign policy and those studying Congress to examine the impact of Congress on U.S. conduct of foreign affairs. At a 1990 workshop in Columbus, Ohio, participants explored the budget process, the budget and defense policy, the congressional role in foreign economic policy and the use of force, the changing congressional role in the practice of diplomacy, and the capacity of Congress to initiate foreign policy and set national priorities. The resulting essays focus on how Congress handles foreign policy and the impact Congress has on specific domains of foreign policy.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1990-1993
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Randall B. Ripley (Ohio State University) and James M. Lindsay (University of Iowa)
  RESULTING PUBLICATION: “Congress Resurgent: Foreign and Defense Policy on Capitol Hill,” eds. Randall B. Ripley and James M. Lindsay. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. Available from publisher.
  SOURCE OF FUNDING: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS: Midwest Consortium for International Security Studies, Mershon Center of Ohio State University
  
  
• The Fundamentalism Project: From 1987 to 1995, the Academy undertook a major comparative study of anti-modernist, anti-secular militant religious movements on five continents and within seven world religious traditions. Drawing on the expertise of hundreds of scholars across the globe, the project convened 10 conferences, involved thousands of hours of fieldwork, and examined the nature of fundamentalist movements, their institutions, and their relation to governmental policies. The study revealed similarities among fundamentalist movements, even across religious traditions, and the distinct cultural, social, and political contexts in which various movements emerged. This initiative resulted in five encyclopedic scholarly volumes, published as a series; a series of documentary film and radio programs, aired on PBS and NPR, and produced in collaboration with the BBC; a companion book to the television and radio series; and three additional books. The information and analysis produced by this study continue to inform the public agenda as the United States struggles to deal with the impact of religious fundamentalism on international security in the 21st century.
  
  PROJECT DATE: 1987-1995
  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Martin E. Marty (University of Chicago) and R. Scott Appleby (University of Notre Dame)
  RESULTING PUBLICATIONS:
  “Fundamentalisms Observed,” eds. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. Vol. 1 of series. Winner of the 1991 American Association of Publishers Award for Best Book in Philosophy and Religion.
  
  “Fundamentalisms and Society: Reclaiming the Sciences, the Family, and Education,” eds. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Vol. 2 of series.
  
  “Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance,” eds. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Vol. 3 of series.
  
  “Accounting for Fundamentalisms: The Dynamic Character of Movements,” eds. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Vol. 4 of series.
  
  “Fundamentalisms Comprehended,” eds. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Vol. 5 of series.
  Entire series available from publisher.
  
  “Islamic Fundamentalisms and the Gulf Crisis,” ed. James Piscatori. Cambridge: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1991 (out of print.)
  
  “The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World,” by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992. This book was a companion to a PBS television and NPR radio series developed in connection with the Fundamentalism Project. (out of print)
  
  “Spokesmen for the Despised: Fundamentalist Leaders of the Middle East,” ed. R Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Available from publisher.
  
  “Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms around the World,” by Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby, and Emmanuel Sivan. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003. Available from publisher.
  
  SOURCE OF FUNDING: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  

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