Congress abolished Aid to Families with Dependent
Children in 1996, and some argue that "Social Security as we know
it" is next. This paper shows that a politics of apparent consensus
about Social Security has become a politics of clear dissensus.
To illustrate the politics of Social Security, the paper presents
a new framework which uses a metaphor of theater. At center stage
are debates among policy elites who differ both on the extent of
the Social Security problem and on the solution. The media are the
chorus, interpreting the events on the stage to the audience, telling
a discordant story about how even the experts cannot agree. Above
the stage is the proscenium arch, containing the factors that provide
the context of the debate - the demographics of an aging society,
historical circumstances, and the economic climate. Members of the
public - as in traditional theater - are the spectators, removed
from the stage and seated in the audience, being "played to" by
the elites on stage. The disagreements and confusion among the elite
actors on the stage undermine the watching public's confidence in
the long-term viability of Social Security, though their support
for the program remains high. Beginning in January 1998, the President
and several foundations and interest groups have attempted to engage
the public more actively in deliberations about the fate of Social
Security by involving them in town meetings, forums, and other discussions.
Thus, applying the framework of theater, the current effort is to
transform traditional theater into interactive theater as the public
moves onto center stage along with the policy elites. Finally, the
paper overlays an agenda-setting framework on the theater framework
and concludes by arguing that Social Security appears to be ripe
for change.
Fay Lomax Cook, School
of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
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