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Aggressive CSR strategy and CSR awarding: managerial opportunism versus social activism
No full textPurpose
Despite the extensive body of research on absolute corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, limited attention has been given to the distinct concepts of optimal and aggressive CSR engagement, as well as their associations with CSR awarding. This study aims to differentiate between optimal and aggressive CSR engagement and examine their relationship with CSR awarding while considering the moderating influence of board characteristics from the perspectives of stakeholder and agency theories.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical analysis draws on an international dataset comprising 43,803 observations from nine sectors across 41 countries. We employ a least squares dummy variable regression approach that accounts for country, industry and year effects to conduct the analysis.
Findings
The results reveal that engagement in aggressive CSR activities beyond the optimal level leads to the generation of a social reputation through CSR awarding. However, the influence of board characteristics on this relationship is significant. Specifically, the presence of a dedicated CSR committee encourages CSR awarding in the context of aggressive CSR engagement. Conversely, board independence constrains the relationship between aggressive CSR engagement and CSR awarding. Notably, board gender diversity does not have a discernible impact on this connection.
Practical implications
Our evidence provides valuable insights to help firms seeking to enhance their social reputation through CSR activities better allocate their resources and avoid unnecessary financial commitments.
Originality/value
This study advances the current understanding by exploring the relationship between aggressive CSR engagement and the recognition of CSR awards. Furthermore, it scrutinises the factors that dictate when such aggressive CSR engagement translates into enhanced social reputation, as evidenced by the attainment of CSR awards
Duration and the prosodic disambiguation of nested structure
No full textDurational information provides strongly reliable cues for organizing and tracking syntactic structure of sentences. At the same time, durational properties of speech are largely dependent on complexity, often modelled as a function of predictability: higher predictability is reliably associated with shorter duration, while less predictable elements of utterances are more carefully articulated, and thus produced more slowly. While the two determinants of duration (structure and predictability) are often aligned, there exist a well-defined set of exceptions where the two factors make opposite predictions. We discuss converging evidence that rhythm modulation might play a crucial role in the disambiguation of structural nesting, leading to shorter duration for more complex nested structures and longer duration for simpler structures involving sisterhood. We then present an account of these durational differences and rhythmic patterns, based on the interaction of independently motivated prosodic principles
International Adoptions From Romania and Russia: Babies for Sale
No full textThe cases of Russia and Romania are interesting to examine. It was the Soviet occupation of Romania following World War II that turned the country from a monarchy into a communist "people's republic". For this reason, one can see many similarities between Communist Russia and Communist Romania. More recently, both experienced revolutions that brought full-scale economic reforms to the countries and both are now in similar economic straits. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes evident that there are very different underlying reasons for their booming businesses of baby exportation and that these two countries have dealt with the issue very differently as well. Capitalism has not been all bad for these two nations, but glasnost and perestroika not only opened the world's markets to them, it opened them to the world's markets: white babies for sale!
The trend of baby exportations from the two nations is only exacerbated by the West's demand for white children. In the US, for example, a couple can pay as much as 4,000. It is easy to see why the opening of both economic and political barriers in these countries has led to the exportation of one of their most valuable resources: their children.International Adoptions From Romania and Russia:
Babies for Sale
Kerri Bouska
Spring,2002
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The past decade has brought an exploding number of adoptions from Eastern
European nations to the more prosperous west. A theory that becomes very useful when
examining this trend is the economic law of supply and demand. This principal states
that prices in a market tend toward equilibrium where the demand meets the supply at a
particular price. In this instance, the demand is for babies and is coming from Western
nations and the supply is found in various, poorer nations throughout the world. The
circumstances that influence these nations to give up their children also revolve around
issues of supply and demand. Although one could point to any of a number of factors as
influences of the phenomenon, Adam Smith can account for almost everything.
1
The cases of Russia and Romania are interesting to examine. It was the Soviet
occupation of Romania following World War II that turned the country from a monarchy
into a communist "people's republic". For this reason, one can see many similarities
between Communist Russia and Communist Romania. More recently, both experienced
revolutions that brought full-scale economic reforms to the countries and both are now in
similar economic straits. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes evident that
there are very different underlying reasons for their booming businesses of baby
exportation and that these two countries have dealt with the issue very differently as well.
Capitalism has not been all bad for these two nations, but glasnost and perestroika not
only opened the world's markets to them, it opened them to the world's markets: white
babies for sale!
The trend of baby exportations from the two nations is only exacerbated by the
West's demand for white children. In the US, for example, a couple can pay as much as
4,000.
1
It is easy to see why the opening of both economic and
political barriers in these countries has led to the exportation of one of their most valuable
resources: their children.
ROMANIA
Population Policy
Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu came into power in 1968 and ruled over
Romania for 29 years. During this time, he instituted a plan of economic growth,
Romania's own intensive plan for heavy industrialization, which was closely modeled
after the Soviet plan for development. 2 As the country began the process of becoming
industrialized, a disturbing demographic trend began to emerge: Romania was
approaching zero population growth.3
With future labor supplies threatened, Ceausescu announced a goal: to increase
Romania's population from 23 million to 30 million by the year 2000. With this
objective in mind, the government implemented an extremely harsh demographic policy
starting in 1966. Abortion on command, something the communists had implemented in
their attempt to create women's equality, was done away with. Abortions were allowed
under very limited circumstances: when pregnancy endangered the life of a woman, was
the result of rape or incest or if the child was likely to have a congenital disease or
deformity. Exceptions were also made if a woman was over forty-five years of age or
had at least four of her own children still under her care. An abortion performed for any
1 Schabner, Dean, "Buying and Selling", ABC News.com WebPages, 03.12.02,
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/usillailyNews/adoption race0203 l 2.httnl, 04.16.02
2
"The Rise and Fall of Romanian Communism", infoplease webpages, www.askjeeves.com, "Communism
in Romania", 04.14.02.
3 "Romania; Demographic Policy", http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/
query/r?frd/cstdy: @field(DOCID+ro0049), 03 .27 .02.
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3
other purpose became strictly illegal and penalties were also enforced against those found
to be providing illegal abortions.3 Other policies implemented in an attempt to increase
the birthrate in Romania included special taxes placed on men and women who were over
age 25 and had failed to have children. This tax could be as much as 10 to 20 percent of
their income. The government also attempted to strengthen the family structure, making
divorce much more difficult to obtain. Incredibly, only 28 divorces were allowed in the
entire country in 1967, compared to 26,000 the year before.3 Ceausescu's government
also utilized pronatalist policies; family allowances were raised with the birth of each
new child. Starting with their third child, mothers were given monetary awards. Also,
the income tax rate for parents with three or more children was reduced by 30 percent.3
Additional, subtler measures were also taken by the government to encourage
higher birth rates. In 1986, mass media campaigns began, "extolling the virtues of the
large families of the past and of family life in general."3 Reproduction was proclaimed to
be the patriotic duty and moral obligation of all citizens. The campaign even had
competitions between Romanian counties, or judete, for the highest birthrate. Procreation
by single women was also encouraged, despite that fact that it was socially unacceptable.3
The demographic measures taken by the government were extremely effective.
Because contraceptives were not manufactured in Romania and all importation of them
had been cut off when the government implemented its pronatalist policies, they became
almost impossible to obtain. Additionally, sex education was nil, even up to the 1980's.
3
3
3
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Consequently, the impact of these demographic policies was immediate. The number of
live births went up 92.8 percent between 1966 and 1967.
4
This high birthrate was not sustained for long, but quickly returned to normal after
police enforcement of the laws lagged. More aggressive steps were implemented in the
1980s, when the birthrate had dropped to only 14.3 per 1,000. To get an idea of how low
this number is, one can compare it to the US birthrate of 1998, which was 65.6 births per
1,000.4 Ceausescu lowered the legal age for marriage to 15 in 1984. Women were
monitored constantly, even at their places of work, with mandatory gynelogical exams.
Childless couples were grilled about their sex lives. By 1985, the parameters for abortion
had been limited even further, mandating that a woman must be over 45-years-old or
have five children, all under her care, to qualify. Again, pronatalist tax incentives and
disincentives were utilized, but to no avail.
The disincentives: outlawing abortion, banning contraceptives and sex education,
had the most impact on women who were unmarried, poor and uneducated. Although the
demographic policies implemented by Ceausescu's regime did little to raise fertility rates,
they did manage to bring into the world thousands of unwanted babies to mothers who
were unwilling or unable to care for them. These children were usually institutionalized
and became wards of the state. It made no difference to the communist regime whether
the children were raised by their families or by institutions and social workers actually
favored a collective raising of children. Upon reflection, it seems ironic that Ceausescu
was implementing such measures to bring more Romanian citizens into the world when
thousands of children already languished in the country's institutions. The "supply" of
4 "US Birthrates Rise for First Rime in Eight Years; Births to Teenagers Still Falling", Family Planning
Perspectives Digest, Vol. 32, No. 5, September/October, 2000,
www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3226300.html, 04.17 .02
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children in Romanian institutions was at 100,000 when Ceausescu's regime was brought
down in 1989. Many of these children were products of his cruel demographic policies.
5
Since the overthrow of Ceausescu's regime and the implementation of a market
economy, birthrates have fallen to desperate levels in Romania. The average woman has
only 1.3 children in her lifetime and uses abortion as the main form of birth control; in
1990 there were 300 abortions performed for every 100 live births.7 Today, the number
of abortions outnumbers live births by 10 percent and yet, in 1999 the adoption rate per
100,000 still stood at 467.4.10
It is evident that Romania is facing a demographic crisis; Ceausescu was right on
at least this point. In fact, policies to encourage women to have children are still being
implemented in the new, democratic system. A woman who is pregnant with at least her
third child receives 94% of her regular pay during maternity leave as well as 85% of her
earnings until the child is 2 years old.5 So why are children still being exported from the
country?
The birth rate for women between the ages of 15 and 19 was 40.4 per 1,000 in
1999, and this was down from 59.9 per 1,000 in 1989. The average age for women to
marry was 23.3 years of age and non-marital births accounted for 24.1 % of all births in
1999. 6 Teenage girls do not historically make good mothers. They would not have the
economic resources to support children, especially given the dire economic situation of
Romania's transition. The added social stigma attached to giving birth out of wedlock
could also have been a factor in causing these girls to give up or simply abandon their
7
10
5 "Romania", www.ssa.gov/statistics/ssptw/1999/English/romania.pdf, 04.24.02
6 Country Profiles, "Romania", SHIT! LOOK IT UP!
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children. Even though abortion and contraception have been re-legalized, the lack of
contraceptives and sex education continues to be a barrier to bringing down teen birth
rates.
The Second Shift
6
In socialist Romania, family law was based on the Soviet model. The Church was
removed as the central facet of family life; marriages and divorce were made matters
strictly of the state. The family was also liberalized to a great extent, with the wife
granted standing equal to her husband in the areas of control of property and custody of
children.7 However, as section one illustrated, demographic policy soon infringed upon
these newly granted rights. The right of women to work, however, remained strictly in
place. Women were a major part of the work force; by 1970, 74.9 percent of women ages
20 to 59-years old worked outside the home.8
The drop in birth rate can be linked to women's increased participation in the
workforce. Although socialist policies in Romania had the theoretical goal to "eliminate
the 'barbarously unproductive, petty, nerve-racking drudgery' of [women's] lives," in
actuality, women who worked still had the responsibility of caring for their families and
doing all the housework and shopping.5 Having children also limited women's
opportunities at their place of work. The demographic policies implemented by
Ceausescu invaded every facet of life. Special provisions for working mothers and
pregnant women made them less desirable candidates for promotion. Having children
left no time for continuing education or pursuing civic activities. Shortages of food left
7 ''Romania; The Evolution of Family Law", http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/
guery/r?frd/cstdy: @field(DOCID+ro0068), 03.27 .02
8 "Romania; Women and Women's Organizations", http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/
guery/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ro0071), 03.27 .02
Gustavus Student Repository
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women standing in lines for hours waiting to be able to feed their families. This was a
burden many women were not willing to bear and can be cited as another reason for the
great number of abandoned children in Romanian institutions and put up for adoption. In
addition, communist ideology actually defined women's equality as their equal
participation in the work force. Women could not be both ideals: ideal mother,
biologically, and ideal worker ideologically. Women were made a part of the communist
machine; they not only worked on the production lines, but were themselves the means of
production. Women did not want this double burden. If they desired equality, then they
chose to work and to forgo having children, even if this meant being forced to abandon
any produced from unwanted pregnancies.
The ideology of the worker-mother from the communist era has left its mark on
the modem Romanian woman. Although women's literacy in the country was 96.9% in
2000, their opportunity to use this literacy continues to be low.9 The rigor of a daily life
that includes both working full time, keeping a household and raising children leaves
them with little time to enjoy a book. Additionally, many women must bear the burden
alone; in 1998, women headed four-fifths of single-parent households. Even those who
havea spouse suffer from the confines of gender roles: perceptions of both men and
women are that women are meant to do housework, as evidenced by a 2000 Gender
Barometer, in which 80% of respondents, both men and women, said that household
chores such as cooking, cleaning and ironing were performed solely by women
10
Often, a
husband amounts to simply one more mouth to feed, one more person to clean up after
and one more income.
9 Romania Factbook 2000, "Demographics", www.factbook.net/demographics.php. 04.21.02
10
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8
Economics
The Romanian economy, in general, is in a dire state. The average wage in
December of 2000 was $128 US per month and unemployment currently stands at around
12.5%; 1.2 million people in Romania are unemployed. Women have been hit
particularly hard, since agriculture, their main area of employment, contracted 15.9% in
2001. Those under 25 and between the ages of 40 and 49 make up over half of people
without jobs. 10 Inflation in Romania is also out of control, making the value of the lei
almost worthless; in 1989, one US dollar was equivalent to 18 lei, now it takes about
30,000 lei to equal one dollar. The economy is in tatters and 40% of Romanians live on
less than a dollar per day.11 With no way to support a child and no chance of somehow
financing a better life for that child, it is easy to see why so many young women feel
desperate enough to abandon their unplanned off-spring.
Data on adoptions to the US can be very useful in evaluating the main trend of
adoptions from Romania. The following table illustrates the numbers:
10 "Unemployment in Romania 'rocketing', Text of report by Romanian private Pro TV on 25 February
2002, Romania Gateway WebPages. http://www.romania-gateway.
ro/newsNiewDoc.asp?Document ID-3607, 04.24.02 11 "Romania: Romania denies fuelling global trade in Children", 06.07.01, http://lists.partnersintl.
net/pipermail/neww-ri ghts/200 l -November/000666.html, 04.11.02
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9
Table 1
Year Unemployment" # of Orphans Immigrating
. 13 14 to the US From Romama
1990 - 121
1991 - 2,594
1992 8.2% 1) 121
1993 10.4% 97
1994 10.9% 199
1995 8.9% 275
1996 6.5% 555
1997 7.4% 621
1998 10.4% 406
1999 11.5% 895
2000 10.5% 1,122
2001 7.8% 16 782
It is evident that there is a positive correlation between the adoption rate and
unemployment. As the unemployment rate increased, the number of children adopted by
US parents also increased. The drop in number of adoptions in 1992 and 1993 is
indicative of a time when a moratorium was placed on international adoptions from
Romania. From this point, children entering the US from Romania continued to rise,
generally, along with the unemployment rate. The drop-off of both numbers of children
and the rate of unemployment in 2001 indicates that things might be starting to improve
slightly.
12 "Romania", The Heritage Foundation WebPages, Index of Economic Freedom, 2001,
http://database.townhall.com/heritage/index/country.cfm?ID-121, 05.01.02
13 "International Adoption Statistics", Ancestry.com Webpages, September, 2001,
http://adoption.about.com/ gi/dynamic/offs ite.htm?site=http://www.holtinternational.org/in s2001.shtlml,
04.14.02
14 "Immigrant Visas Issued to Orphans Coming to the U.S.", US State Dept. WebPages,
http://travel.state.gov/orphan numbers.html, 03.11.02
15 http://demography.anu.edu.au/VirtualLibrary/ConferencePapers/lUSSP2001/TablesPhilipov .doc,
05.01.02
16 "APER Info Romania", No. 59, Nov, 2001, www.aper.ro/About us/Publications/lnfo%2059 englis.doc,
05.01 .02
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10
Transition to a market economy has brought unwelcome changes to the economic
situation of women in Romania. During the communist era, women were paid salaries
equal to those of men if they were employed in the same job. In reality, men and women
rarely held identical positions or even worked in the same industries. In general, men
worked in heavy industry, which paid higher wages, while women were employed in
lighter industries including the production of consumer goods. This was not only a trend
but was, in some cases, mandated by law since certain pieces of demographic policy
provided that women were not to work in certain, "hazardous" industries for fear that
these jobs might hurt the chances of a woman being able to produce multitudes of healthy
infants. This trend has carried over to post-communist Romania. Women are generally
employed in the light industries of agriculture, health care and education.11 Therefore,
they generally do not earn wages at the same levels as men, nor do they often find
themselves in leadership or managerial positions. This only contributes to their inability
to provide adequately for their children, especially in single-parent households.
Adoption Laws
When communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed in 1989, the
Communist regime in the country fell and the world was shocked at what it saw behind
the formerly closed curtain of the Romanian state. Nearly 100,000 children were being
brought up in Romanian institutions. The West saw that there was a glut of children
without homes and saw the potential to fill their demand for children. Occurences of
international adoptions exploded. The government was not equipped to handle the
demand as there was no former institutional framework in place. Rampant abuses ensued
11 Chiva, Christina, "Taking women seriously: Equal opportunities and Romania's accession into the
European Union, Dec. 3, 2001, EUMap WebPages, http://www.eurnap.org/articles/content/30/304,
04.24.02
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until the government finally took action to regulate adoptions in 1991. By then, 10,000
children had already been sent abroad, many under questionable circumstances.17
1 1
Abuses continued even after 1991, when 2,594 children were sent abroad to the
United States alone.1 8
The emphasis in adoption shifted from finding homes for children
in need to finding babies for those who wanted them. Sometimes, economically hardpressed
families were persuaded to give up a child or women were paid to produce
children for money, often tens of thousands of dollars, a wealth in a nation as poor as
Romania during its transition. International adoptions were temporarily suspended in
1992-1993 and the numbers never reached 1991 levels again, largely because of the risks
associated with adopting a child from Romania: many were infected with HIV and
experienced developmental delays if adopted from orphanages.19
In 1995, Romania applied to join the European Union, and passed legislation that
stopped many of the most questionable practices, but the government's solution, the new
"point system", was not a great improvement. Currently, a moratorium has been placed
on all international adoptions from Romania until the government can come up with a
system that is more focused on the best interests of the child and Jess prone to the
corruption of money-based incentives. The moratorium was enacted in June of 2001
because the old system was rife with opportunities for corruption. Emma Nicholson,
European Parliament reporter for Romania, made claims in June of 2001 that reasons for
the government's slow moves to reform adoption processes stemmed from economic
rewards.
17 "Romanian Adoptions: A Troubled-and Troubling-Record",
www.smaford.edu/groups/global/ChildrenatRisklZouev.html, 04.11.02
18 "Sources of Orphans Immigrating to the U.S.", http://travel.state.gov/orphan sources.html, 03.11.02
19 "International Adoption Facts", The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute WebPages,
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/FactOverview/international.html, 05 .02.02
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12
There are few more perfect examples of supply and demand dictating actions
Examining the Sherman Act: With a Special Focus on the 'Baseball Exemption'
No full textFor over 100 years the Sherman Antitrust Act has regulated competition in business in order to foster a more competitive market and to promote economic efficiency. Based on the economic theories of competitive and monopolistic markets, the legislation was written in common law language and enacted by Congress in 1890. Throughout its history the act has experienced many changes and has been greatly affected by different courts and administrations. Some rulings under the Sherman Act have had the effect of setting precedents, such as U.S. Steel, Standard Oil and Alcoa and at times these precedents have created controversy, such as Federal Baseball, which created the 'baseball exemption.'
In order to better understand the Sherman Act we must first examine the economic principles that lay at the act's foundation. It is obvious that the act was created in an effort to promote economic efficiency and protect consumer welfare. After understanding the economic foundation, we must then examine the political environment that has shaped the act, both during its creation and subsequently after its enactment. Due to the language of the Sherman Act and the powerful interests that stand to be harmed by the act (such as large corporations), it is not unlikely that rulings have been passed down that are not consistent with the intentions of the act. The baseball exemption is one such ruling. By examining this case we can see what are possible implications of misinterpretation or lax enforcement of antitrust laws.EXAMINING THE SHERMAN ACT:
WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE
'BASEBALL EXEMPTION'
DECEMBER 19, 2002
SENIOR THESIS
TRACY J. SHIMEK
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For over 100 years the Sherman Antitrust Act has regulated competition in
business in order to foster a more competitive market and to promote economic
efficiency. Based on the economic theories of competitive and monopolistic
markets, the legislation was written in common law language and enacted by
Congress in 1890. Throughout its history the act has experienced many changes
and has been greatly affected by different courts and administrations. Some
rulings under the Sherman Act have had the effect of setting precedents, such as
U.S. Steel, Standard Oil and Alcoa and at times these precedents have created
controversy, such as Federal Baseball, which created the 'baseball exemption.'
In order to better understand the Sherman Act we must first examine the
economic principles that lay at the act's foundation. It is obvious that the act was
created in an effort to promote economic efficiency and protect consumer
welfare. After understanding the economic foundation, we must then examine
the political environment that has shaped the act, both during its creation and
subsequently after its enactment. Due to the language of the Sherman Act and
the powerful interests that stand to be harmed by the act (such as large
corporations), it is not unlikely that rulings have been passed down that are not
consistent with the intentions of the act. The baseball exemption is one such
ruling. By examining this case we can see what are possible implications of
misinterpretation or lax enforcement of antitrust laws.
1
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SECTION 1: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ANTITRUST
The basis for the Sherman Antitrust Act's roots is buried deep in economic
theory. The justification for antitrust laws can be found in the perceived benefits
of a competitive market over a market dominated by a monopolist producer, or a
group of producers acting in concert as a cartel. Antitrust legislation was
originally formed in response to the belief that powerful monopolists would
potentially harm consumer welfare. While protecting consumer welfare is an
important aspect of antitrust legislation, it is important to take into account the
other consequences of a market being dominated by a monopolist. In order to
do this we need to delve into a brief analysis of competitive markets versus
monopolist markets and the economic theories that surround them.
COMPETITVE MARKET THEORY
For many economists a competitive market is the best solution to the
economic problem, which is how to best allocate goods and services in the quest
to best meet our unlimited wants with our limited supply of resources. The theory
of perfectly competitive markets rests on five key assumptions: 1
1. Consumers are perfectly informed about all goods, all of which are private
goods.
2. Producers have production functions that rule our increasing returns to
scale and technological change.
1
Viscusi, Kip W., John M. Vernon and Joseph E. Harrington Jr., Economics of Regulation and Antitrust,
3
"'
ed. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2000), 75.
2
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3. Consumers maximize their preferences given budget constraints;
producers maximize profits given their production functions.
4. All agents are price takers and externalities among agents are ruled out.
5. A competitive equilibrium, that is, a set of prices such that all markets
clear, is then determined.
Clearly this is at best a theoretical market, and due to the complications of real
life cannot exist. The most important point of these assumptions is that in a
competitive market a firm is a price taker, therefore the examination of antitrust
policies is concerned with the ability of a producer to set price above its marginal
cost (in a competitive market price equals marginal cost, the price to produce one
more unit of output at the current level of production2 ).
In a perfectly competitive market there a many producers and many
consumers; therefore they have no power on the market to affect prices (or at
most an insignificant power). The output of a good is at an equilibrium level
where price the quantity demanded at a given price equals the quantity supplied
at a given price. In this market, the large number of producers drives the price of
a good down until it is equal to the cost of producing that good ("cost" in this case
includes production costs, research and development costs, capital equipment
cost, fixed costs, and a "reasonable return on equity capital, which is the return
necessary to attract the equity capital that the firm needs"3) because any excess
profit draws in new producers until the market price equals marginal cost (which
equals supply).
2 Richard Posner, ''The Theory of Monopoly," in Economic Analysis and Antitrust Law, ed. Terry Calvani
and John Siegfried (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company 1979), 12.
3 Richard Posner, Antitrust Law, 2"' ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001) 10.
3
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The benefit of a competitive market is that it promotes economic
efficiency. The first form of efficiency is that producers are forced to minimize
there cost of production by getting the maximum output from a given amount of
inputs thus conserving limited resources. A second form of efficiency is that in a
competitive market the true cost of producing a good is reflected in its price,
allowing consumers to allocate their resources (i. e. income) in a way that best
represents their wants, therefore allocating limited resources in the most efficient
manner.4 As best expressed by John Shenefield and Irwin Stelzer:
Competition is, after all, the best means to eliminating excess
profits; of allocating resources to their most efficient use; of forcing
firms to produce goods of the highest quality at the lowest cost, in
amounts consumers want; and of stimulating the generation and
introduction of technological innovations. All these add to
consumer welfare and, at the same time, effectively promote
economic growth and prosperi7, which is the very definition of
success for a national economy.
Through this brief analysis it is easy to see why a competitive market has been
deemed as desirable. Unfortunately due to the complexities of the market, life is
never as easy as it is in a theoretical world and it is impossible for most markets
to be perfectly competitive. Different types of markets emerge, including
monopolies, which are often considered undesirable. In order to better
understand why monopolies are often frowned upon, we need to examine the
characteristics of a monopolistic market.
4 Roger Sherman, Antitrust Policies and Issues (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing
Company, 1978), 16. 5 John H. Shenefield and Irwin M. Stelzer, The Antitrust Laws: A Primer, 2nd ed., (Washington, D.C.: The
AEI Press, 1996), 12.
4
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MONOPOLY THEORY
A monopoly is a market in which a single seller or a group of sellers acting
as a single seller (a cartel) has the power to alter the price of her product by
altering the quantity that she sells.6 Monopolists maintain their monopoly in a
number of ways, including by buying up competitors, maintaining excess capacity
to discourage new entrants into the market, and implementing exclusive dealing
requirements.7 A monopolist will sell her product at a lower quantity and higher
price than a seller in a competitive market, in order to maximize profit. They will
produce at a level where their marginal cost equals marginal revenue.8 Here we
have supply and demand curves for both a competitive market (Graph 2) and a
monopolistic market (Graph 1):
Graph 1
MC
MR Demand
Graph 2
MC
Demand
1 = Consumer surplus 3= Dead weight loss (The above graphs are
based on
2= Producer surplus 4= Consumer surplus Figure 4.2 in Viscusi)
The horizontal axis represents quantity and the vertical axis represents price.
6 Posner, Antitrust, 9.
7 Sherman, 19. An exclusive dealing requirement is a contract that binds customers to only purchase a
certain service or good exclusively from that seller.
8 Where the cost to produce one more good equals the revenue earned from selling one more good.
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Here we can see that what was once consumer surplus has been transformed to
producer surplus and dead weight loss (which is often referred to as the social
cost of monopoly or an efficiency loss). 9
In a monopoly a seller creates an artificial scarcity of her good in order to
increase the price and raise profits.10 This reflects an inaccuracy in the actual
value of the product to society, reducing the efficiency of the market to allocate
resources where they are most wanted. Another common concern with
monopoly is the consequences it has on innovation. Questions have been raised
as to whether a monopolist will feel the need to innovate or control costs and
reduce waste when she controls a market and does not have to fear competitors
entering into the market. 11
Having examined these two different theories we can see how antitrust
laws promote the goals of economic efficiency and consumer welfare by making
restraint of trade and many of the actions associated with the restraint of trade
illegal. It must be acknowledged that antitrust legislation also has social goals of
protecting small competitors, spurring technological innovation and maximizing
the role of individual of entrepreneurs. 12 Both the social and economic goals of
antitrust laws are best realized through competitive market system, and harmed
by monopolistic markets, which is why the Government has gone to such trouble
to protect competition in the face of monopoly power.
9 Viscusi, 78. 10
Posner, "Monopoly," 19. 11
Posner, Antitrust, 21. I say questions because there has not been definitive evidence that this is true. 12
Shenefield, 12.
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SECTION 2: HISTORY OF THE SHERMAN ACT
The Development of the Sherman Act
Antitrust law took shape in the United States during the rapidly changing
time of the second half of the nineteenth century. The Sherman Act of 1890 was
a response to the political and economic situation of the United States of that
time. It was born out of conflict between the general public and the growing
concentration of wealth among an elite group of entrepreneurs.
In the decades that fell between the Civil War and the passage of the
Sherman Act in 1890, drastic changes lead to increasing scales of economy due
to improvements in production, including the introduction of steam power,
invention and diffusion of technology and a rapidly growing supply of capital.13
These changes and other developments lead to a fundamental change in the
marketplace that tended to decrease the number of producers:
The end of the Civil War in America had ushered in a period of truly
dramatic economic growth. Between the Civil War and 1900, 14
million immigrants swelled the American work force, and more land
was settled than in all the time since the continent had been
discovered. Railroads laced western settlements together in
economic activity with the East. A national banking system was
established that helped firms raised capital and grow to serve
emerging national markets. It was in this period that the corporate
form of business organization spread from canals and railroads to
industry and commerce generally.14
13 William Letwin, Law and economic policy in America: the evolution of the Sherman Antitrust Act
(New York: Random House, 1965), 9.
14 Sherman, 32.
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The contraction in the number of businesses was further spurred by
"increasing density of population, rising personal incomes, and reduced
costs of transportation" that served to "widen the extent of the market. ''15
... The public became aware that many of the old, small firms were
vanishing. .. In many instances the most convenient way for a firm
to expand quickly to a larger and more efficient scale was to buy
out another firm or to merge with it. .. Most of this expansion size of
firms, one may guess, was undertaken without any thought or
prospect of monopolizing. Nevertheless each expansion by merger
undeniably reduced the number of competitors in its industry ...
And in some notorious instances, the twenty or thirty competitors in
an industry were all, or nearly all, swallowed up by one single firm,
which thereby became an undeniable monopolist. 16
The concentration of industries was seen by some as a threat to
competition, which would harm the general welfare of consumers. Senator John
Sherman expressed concern over "the socials, the communist, and the nihilist" in
a dramatization of the "potential for widespread social and political unrest
threatened by outrage expressed toward the trusts. '' 17 The potential for unrest
was a reaction to the dilapidating conditions of the general public:
Along with its benefits, the rapid economic development of the late
1800s brought oppression to the underprivileged and scandal
among the privileged. City dwellers, including children worked long
hours in dirty, poorly lit, and unsafe places, and that working life
was not relieved by the slum conditions endured at home. Labor
and local businesses both fell under the power of corporations in
trusts and combinations that grew steadily more powerful, often by
forcing competitors to sell out under the threat of ruin. City official
who gave out valuable lighting, water, street railway, and other
contracts were bribed routinely. Western farmers felt there were
suffering from the steadily falling price level and the growing power
of railroads and industries. Stock prices were manipulated in
15 Le twin, 8. 16
Letwin.1 9.
17 Rudolph J. R. Peritz Competition Policy in America, 1888-1992 (Oxford: Oxford University Press:
1996), 9.
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merger schemes as trusts and combinations proliferated. Trust
stood for monopoly, and in America this is the period that gave
monopoly its bad name.18
Thus the stage was set for government interaction. Unfortunately, there
was no clear solution to the problem. To say that all monopolies are bad and
should be banned would have been a gross overstatement that would have
impaired the economy at some point. Combinations helped to create more
efficient producers, which reduced production costs (which was equivalent to
raising people's incomes). Conversely, to say the market (and combinations)
should be left to progress freely with no checks was clearly not what was best for
the welfare of the public. Competition was needed to keep down prices of goods
and "prevented any seller from lording it over his customers. "19
In the debate, much of the public failed to realize that 'combination' was
not diametrically opposed to 'competition. ' Any form of combination was seen as
a threat to competition. On the other hand there was a 'contractarian ideology'
among the courts that looked suspiciously upon legislative initiatives that aimed
at reducing the property rights of the individual and impinging upon the 'liberty of
contract' .20 It was over this debate, between the rhetoric of competition and the
rhetoric of private property, that Congress was forced to create a policy that
prohibited combination whenever it went as far as monopoly, but not suppress
combination when it left enough room for competition.21
18 Sherman, 32.
19 Letwin, 10.
20
Peritz, 10.
21 Letwin, 10. Peritz.2. 14.
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The act had some basis in common law and was written in common law
language that was a contrast to some of the language in the original bill.22
According to Peritz using common law language was an admission that some
combination was in fact beneficial.23 During the debate over the act lawyers and
• economists argued for a law that left ample room for competition. Congress held
a similar view and enacted the Sherman Act "as a tentative experimental effort to
express such a policy with the use of common law categories. "24 It is important
to note, however that the act drew upon civil and criminal penalties to enforce
common law standards which was a "synthesis of sorts" in dealing with violations
of common law.25
The act was vague and used words that "drew their meaning from a long
and sometimes diffuse tradition" that was not easy to interpret clearly.26 The
Sherman Act proved to be a challenge to the judicial system:
When set the task of enforcing the Sherman Act, the Attorneys
General of the United States were forced to engage in a slow
process of exploration by hits and misses. Their exploration was
impeded by lack of funds, discouraged by doubts as to the legal
meaning of the Act, and occasionally colored by the political cast of
the administrations they served.
In dealing with the succession of cases that the Department of
Justice brought before them, judges were forced to resolve the
ambiguities that had been, as it were, necessarily written into the
Sherman Act. Extremes of interpretation gave rise at first to
sharply divergent rules of law. Yet within a decade, a fairly
coherent doctrine about the Act' s intent and scope had become
acceptable to most judges . . . 27
22 Sherman, 30. Letwin, 15. Peritz, 20.
23 Peritz, 24.
24 Letwin, 15.
25 Peritz, 26. 26
Letwin"' 15.
27
Letwin. 15.
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Evolution of the Sherman Act
In more than 100 years of history the Sherman Act has gone
through many changes. The changes have been made through
congressional initiative, through its use and application by the different
presidential administrations, and through the different decisions handed
down by the courts hearing antitrust cases. In this section we will examine
the Act' s evolution through changes made to it by Congress and through
its use by the Department of Justice.
The Early Years
During the first ten years of the Sherman Act' s life it faced a number of
difficulties including an underfunded Department of Justice, indifferent Attorneys
General and courts which made rulings that "prevented federal authorities from
using the Act. "28 When the Act was passed in 1890 Congress set aside no
increased funding to the Department of Justice to aid it in prosecuting violations
of the Act which made it difficult for an already strapped-for-cash Attorney
General to investigate and prosecute suspected infringements of the act. 29 Early
Attorneys General would not have necessarily been eager to pursue the Act even
if they had had the funding. According to Roger Sherman under the Harrison,
Cleveland, and McKinley administrations only 18 suits were brought under the
Sherman Act (seven, eight, and three, respectively).30
28 "Sherman Antitrust Act," Infoplease.com, 2002,www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0844878.html (9
November 2002).
29 Letwin, I 03.
30
35.
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In the first 18 months of the Sherman Act prosecution was left to the
discretion of local district attorneys; Attorney General William H.H. Miller did not
seek out cases to prosecute.31 The few efforts made at prosecuting the case
under Miller failed to win support in the courts.32 President Cleveland' s first
attorney general Richard Olney did not see the Act as an effective tool to restrain
trusts. To test his hypothesis he allowed the Sugar Trust case that was brought
under investigation under Attorney General Miller to go to court. The courts
found in favor of the Sugar Trust, confirming Olney's policy. Ironically enough,
the only other case he allowed to go to court was against striking labor unions, in
which the court found in favor of the government.33
Cleveland's second attorney general, Judson Harmon operated with
caution in his prosecutions of the Sherman Act, citing the Sugar Trust decision,
but did test a few cases, including an appeal of an earlier court decision in the
Trans-Missouri case, a coal merchant combination in Salt Lake City, the Joint
Traffic Association case, and the Addyston Pipe and Steel case. Although these
cases were successful for Harmon, he did not take broad action with the Act.34
Under the McKinley administration, the Attorneys General did almost
nothing to oppose trusts.35 By the time McKinley was assassinated in 1901 five
years had gone by in which the Sherman Ac
USAID's Role in Empowering Women Through Education
No full textEducating women is key to their empowerment, because through education women are able to begin to understand and work to change the system that oppresses them. Educating women in developing nations makes it possible for the change to come from within the nation. If the change does not come from within it is likely that many areas which need to be addressed will be missed, and much of the change will come at the expense of the society and culture of the nation.USAID's Role in Empowering Women Through Education
Rob Willey
December 31st, 2002
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Outline
I. Introduction and arguments
II. Problems faced by women in developing nations
A. Placed at bottom of the social ladder
B. Lack of political representation
C. Lower employment rates
D. Violence
1. Genital mutilation, forced marriage, and child marriage
2. Sources of violence
III. Universal benefits of educating women
A. Decreases birth rate
B. Benefits to children
1. Better health care
2. Higher educational expectation
IV. USAID and the education of women
A. Low amount of aid
B. Office of Women in Development
C. Allocation of money to other areas and possible re-allocation
V. Matching goals of USAID and benefits of educating women
A. Example of Asia and Near East to show overlaps
B. Economic growth and agricultural development
C. Strengthens democracy and good governance and reduces gender disparities
D. Stabilizes population growth and protects human health
E. Builds human capacity
VI. The empowering effects of education
A. Allows women within a nation to work towards empowerment on their own
1. Better understanding of situation than outside
2. More vested interest
B. Ways that education leads to empowerment
C. Importance of using proper methods of education
VII. Arguments against the education of women
A. Basic education serves to enhance subordination
1. Education necessary to understand
2. Have to start with basic education
B. Claim that link between fertility and education is weak
C. Education takes away from time that could be spent learning crafts
VIII. Problems with the current system
A. Arrogance of the West
B. Costs and parents lack of belief in the benefits of education
1. Shortage of family funds
2. Educated women seen as less desirable for marriage
3. At home responsibilities
C. Availability of schools
D. Gender stereotyping
1. Teachers
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2. Textbooks
E. Lack of female teachers
F. Malnourishment
IX. Solutions to current problems with educating women
A. Arrogance of would be helpers
B. Costs
1. Uniforms
2. Scholarships
3. Methods that deal with the loss of work while daughters are in school
a. Daycares for younger siblings
b. Changing Curriculum
c. Adapting Schedules
C. Showing parents the benefits
D. Availability of schools
E. Gender stereotyping
F. Increasing the number of female teachers
G. Dealing with malnourishment
X. Conclusion
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Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . .. . ........ .... ..... .. . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Problems faced by women in developing nations .. ............... .... .. .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ... 7
Universal benefits of educating women .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .... . . . ..... ..... . .. 10
USAID and the education of women . . . .... ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ..... .... . .. 12
Matching goals of US AID and benefits of educating women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... . . ... . . ... 16
The empowering effects of education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... . ..... ...... ..... ....... 19
Arguments against the education of women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ............. .. .. . . . . . . . . 23
Problems with the current system . . . ... ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . ... . 26
Solutions to current problems in educating women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... 31
Conclusion . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . ...... . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..... .... . . .... 44
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Introduction and arguments
Educating women in third world nations is the best way to help them achieve a
more equal standing and change the unfair system that they face; therefore, USAID needs
to give more funding and focus to this area. Women in developing nations face
widespread discrimination. They are seen as subordinate to men; this problem needs to be
addressed. Educating women will give them the power to make the necessary changes on
their own.
The education of women in developing nations not only helps them, it benefits
everyone within the entire nation. The universal benefits include: increases in GNP and
male life expectancy, and decreases in infant mortality and total fertility (King and Hill
14). If USAID supports the education of women they will be helping women, while at the
same time accomplishing other objectives they champion.
Looking at a specific example of the goals of US AID in Asia and the Near East
will show the overlap of goals and benefits. The amount of overlap is surprising, on! y
two out of the six goals that USAID has for Asia and the Near East are not off shooting
benefits of educating women. This close correlation is important, as it strengthens the
case for a shift of funding in the budget of USAID. The shift will only be adding to the
education of women while not taking away from other areas USAID believes to be
important.
Educating women is key to their empowerment, because through education
women are able to begin to understand and work to change the system that oppresses
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them. Educating women in developing nations makes it possible for the change to come
from within the nation. If the change does not come from within it is likely that many
areas which need to be addressed will be missed, and much of the change will come at
the expense of the society and culture of the nation.
It is hard to understand why USAID gives so little to the education of women
based on the great shortage of arguments against it; furthermore when these arguments
are looked at closely, they are quickly dispelled. The arguments challenge the benefits of
only a "basic education." They also claim that the links that so many researchers have
found are weak. One more argument against education is it takes away from time that
could be spent learning a craft. This paper will show why these arguments lack validity.
Currently, most education systems in third world nations are lacking in enrollment
of women and girls. A large part of this problem is the societies and cultures they reside
in, place them at the bottom of the social scale. Another reason female attendance is so
low stems from the belief many families carry: that the money they invest in educating
their daughters will never come back to them. These are just a few of the problems this
paper will examine.
The problems are numerous, but there are many solutions. Increases in aid are
necessary for many of the solutions, or example, helping with the costs of schooling and
paying for programs to educate parents on the benefits of sending their daughters to
school. US AID needs to increase their funding, while at the same time, re-evaluating
where the money they do give goes and making sure any new funding is used in effective
programs.
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Women live as second or third class citizens in much of the developing world.
Changes need to be made, now, to end this. Women need to be empowered through
education so they can make bring about these changes. US AID can and should be a
catalyst for this.
Problems faced by women in developing nations
Women in the third world face a plethora of problems. They are discriminated
against in almost all areas of society. They do not receive the same treatment as men.
Women are very poorly represented within the governments of third world nations, they
are forced to take the lowest paying jobs the country they reside in has to offer (Ghosh
3 18), placed at the bottom of the patriarchal system, and receive far less education then
men; more than fifty percent of the women in the world are illiterate (Gosset 539). On top
of all this women have to deal with violence in most sectors of their lives. It is important
that these wrongs are given some attention so it is clear why changes are necessary and
the importance of education in bringing about these changes.
Women have little representation in the governments of third world nations. In
many nations they do have access to vote; yet the opportunity to vote alone is not enough;
as of 1995 only ten percent of all world legislative representatives and four percent of
cabinet ministers were women (Stromquist 8). If women are to work within the system to
achieve equality, then the percentage of women represented in government must increase
dramatically. Possessing an education is key for women who wish to become involved in
their nation's political system.
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The enrollment rates of women, in schools, are much lower then those of men
(King and Hill 12-15). This has been shown to have a negative effect on both women and
their search for equal standing and on the nations where it takes place (King and Hill 12-
15). This gender gap should be eliminated, as it will greatly aid women as they work to
empower themselves.
Women are looked down on because many have not reached the same educational
most men have. This makes for an easy area for men who have received an education to
say that women are inferior. It also makes it more likely that women will believe that it is
true that they are somehow below men. This can be damaging to a woman. When, for
example, she cannot read, but little children in the area she lives in have no trouble
reading, men may point this out. When women achieve the same educational standing as
men this basis to put women down will be gone. Education has been shown to help
alleviate this problem by raising women's sel f -esteem (Kiluva-Ndunda 7). If women are
going to break out of their lower standing it is essential that they believe they are equal to
men.
An additional reason that women occupy the bottom rung of the social ladder is
because they earn less and have lower employment rates then men (Stromquist xxix). The
relationship between women's standing and their inferior employment situation occurs
for a variety of reasons. First, because men earn more they automatically have grounds
to, and do, claim control of the family income (Ghosh 32 1). Control over family
expenditure is a huge amount of power. Whoever controls family income decides if the
children go to school, if any members of the family see a doctor, how much is spent on
food, and almost every aspect of everyday living. When women are poorly educated and
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do not have access to decent jobs, they are forced to stay within this system. Otherwise,
they will be unable to sustain themselves. However, as women receive more and more
education and get increasingly better jobs, they have more leverage within the family and
the overall family income increases. This leads to more money that can be spent on food
and children's health care and education.
Discrimination against women, and a devaluing of the work that they do is
another problem women face in third world countries. In most developing nations a large
portion of the work done by women is in the home. Their tasks include cooking, cleaning,
and taking care of the children. Despite the great amount of time invested in these tasks,
the tasks are given no economic value. The men in the families do not give a portion of
their earnings to their wives for the tasks that they do in the home, nor does the
government or anyone else. This is clearly unjust, but the reason that women end up
doing these economically worthless tasks is because of the gap that exists in education. In
almost all families, in developing nations, men have achieved a higher level of education
than women; this makes it logical that men go outside the home to work, because they
will receive higher paying jobs (Ghosh 318). Consequently women end up stuck in a
cycle; the work they do is devalued, making it easy for men to retain total control, and if
women want to get better jobs, they are unable to because they lack the skills and
education.
In addition, many women in developing nations are subject to violence because of
their lower status. Female genital mutilation, the ritual cutting of all or part of the clitoris
happens to approximately 6,000 women a day. This practice doubles the risk of death at
childbirth. Forced marriage is another problem common in developing nations. This
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custom takes away women's control over their economic, sexual, and reproductive lives.
Another problem affecting girls in the third world is child marriage; in many nations girls
are married at twelve or younger (Bunch, Carrillo, and Shore 63). These are just a few
examples of the violence and mistreatment many third world women deal with on a daily
basis. These violations of the rights of women must be stopped.
Violence towards women stems from their economic inequality, a pattern of
physical abuse to solve arguments, males having the final say in decisions, and
restrictions on women forcing them to remain in the family setting (Bunch, Carrillo, and
Shore 63). Educating women will not instantly solve all of these problems, but it will
help. By educating women they, will be able to improve their economic standing.
Improving their economic standing will allow them to break out of the restrictive family
setting. It will also allow them to raise awareness of their plight and it will help them to
gain respect. For example, many nations where forced marriage is practiced have signed
international conventions requiring consent of both people in the marriage; however these
conventions are often ignored by the local government. If women are educated and can
read about and then write about the violation of these conventions, it will make the
countries look bad and likely lead to a stricter enforcement of the conventions.
All of these problems can be addressed by the women they affect, if these women
receive an education. Once women are educated they will gain the voice they need to
bring about the changes. The current education system does not do an adequate job and
therefore must be changed and aid increased.
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Universal benefits of educating women
The benefits of educating women will be valuable not only to women, but to all
the inhabitants of their country. These universal benefits greatly increase the case against
currently low USAID contributions. If a problem can be resolved in a more efficient way,
it makes sense to pick the way that fixes the most problems at once. Educating women is
such a way, as it is beneficial to women and it also assists many other problem areas
within society.
It has been shown that as the educational level of women increases, the birth rate
decreases (Brunwaree 1). This is very beneficial to third world nations because
overpopulation is an oft-sighted cause of the poverty and hunger, prevalent in many of
these nations. Families are often better able to manage if they have fewer children. The
correlation between educating women and a decrease in birth rates, while universally
good, also has several advantages that are specific to women. In most developing nations
women are expected to be the primary caregivers to their children. This means that the
more children a women has, the more time she must devote to caring for them, because of
this having less children can be advantageous to women. The additional free time will
also allow them time to work towards changing their lower standing. The lower birth rate
is evidence that educated women are able to exercise greater control over their bodies. It
is important to note that, a study conducted by Jejeebhoy did show that there was a
minimum level of education which women must obtain before the correlation between
education and birth rate begins. The correlation usually begins in junior or secondary
school. (Jejeebhoy 1995) Other researchers in various countries have verified this
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threshold. Therefore it is important that the education of women be done to this basic
level or else it will not have as many benefits.
Another positive effect of educating women is that it will lead to more effective
use of contraceptives. When women gain literacy they can read and understand
instructions on contraceptives. Basic education will also make it easier for health care
educators to teach about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. The increased
ease of sex education, combined with the more effective use of contraception will lead to
both decreases in population and in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The rapid
spread of AIDS in Africa is having a very negative effect on the region, as it is the cause
of death of millions of people living there. Educating women is one way to slow down
this rapid spread.
Better care for children is another universal benefit that stems directly from the
education of women. As women become more educated, they are exposed to more
modem technology, more advanced ways of caring for children, and as they learn to read
they are able to better understand and administer medicines prescriptions, prepare and
store food, and deal with other health issues. Children in developing nations often die
from something as simple as their mother not knowing how to read the instructions on a
prescription. Education of women can prevent this, leading to healthier lives for their
children.
Education of women also helps them to attain better jobs, which leads to a higher
family income. The higher family income means that more and better quality food is
affordable, and better quality health care can be afforded. This proves especially true in
many Sub-Saharan African countries where women and men have separate budgets.
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Women are expected to use their budgets to pay for themselves, the farm or garden, and
the needs of any children the family has (King and Hill 16).
Women in developing nations who receive an education have been shown to have
higher expectations for their children. (Ainsworth 85) This leads them to push their
children farther and, therefore, their children receive better educations than they did.
Thus, the increased expectations that educated women have for their children are
beneficial to the children. These increased expectations are likely to lead their children
into higher paying jobs and more informed lives. This is especially positive for young
women, because their mothers will push them and urge them to attain more then they did.
This cycle will be continued when the young women have female children, who like their
mothers, expect their daughters to reach a higher level of education than they have.
Thus, women in third world nations need to be educated because they are being
oppressed and education will allow them to liberate themselves; the education of women,
however, will have a positive effect not only on them, but also on the nations in which
they reside. The universal benefits of educating women serve to greatly enhance the
argument to increase funding in areas that are shown to lead to rises in female enrollment.
USAID and education of women
Despite the many benefits the education of women has been shown to produce,
USAID gives a very small percentage of their budget to the education of women. In
USAID's budgetary request for 2001 they asked for a total of 6,923 million dollars. Of
this money only 231 million was given to education in general, only three percent of the
total budget. Of this 231 million only 2.34 million is specifically earmarked for the
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education of women. That means that only 1 percent of the 231 million USAID gives for
education is specifically given towards educating women and only .038 percent of the
total USAID budget is given to the education of women (www.usaid.gov). These
percentages are pitifully small.
The goals of USAID and the benefits of education coincide to a large degree. It
appears that USAID realizes and acknowledges the importance of education of women.
For example, on the section of their web page dedicated to aid to Africa, under "building
human capacity," USAID states, " . . . particularly primary education, where social and
economic returns are the greatest, especially for girls and other disadvantaged groups"
(www.usaid.gov). This quote shows that USAID is aware of the benefits of educating
women. Despite this knowledge they continue to devote a minuscule percentage of their
budget to the education of women. Their actions do not match with what they say. A
review of the literature that USAID puts out would lead the reader to believe that they
donate a large percentage of their budget to the education of women; however; as the
statistics listed earlier in this section show, they do not.
One possible explanation for the Jack of aid that USAID gives to educating
women may be that USAID is not fully aware of the benefits offered through the
education of women. This possibility is actually reinforced by what the goals of the
Office of Women in Development are. The office gives four primary goals:
1. Enhancing the
Globalization Comes Home: U.S. Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics in a Changing World
No full textThis paper proposes the idea that while international relations has long remained the shadowy domain of executive branch policy, the irreversible trend of globalization will soon make it a prominent issue in presidential campaigns and congressional policy, before eventually entering even congressional electoral politics. The first section discusses the events of September 11th, its consequences, and how they relate to the thesis. President Bush's reaction to the terrorist attacks, and the measures taken by Congress, point to the political atmosphere that will undoubtedly surround the 2002 and 2004 elections. Also, the response of the American public could indicate the future voting patterns and preferences that will determine the results of those elections.
However, the paper will show that the terrorist attacks may only have added urgency to the inevitable changes in the political environment fostered by globalization trends in the last decade. In order to do so, it examines two recent presidential campaigns, the 1992 and 2000 campaigns, as well as a brief but dramatic period in congressional policymaking. By comparing these components to international events during the same time period, the paper will demonstrate that the lack of clear foreign policy and productive political dialogue has created a void lawmakers, politicians, and voters can no longer afford to over look.Globalization Comes Home:
U.S. Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics in a Changing World
Senior Thesis
by Ben Rudolf
Fall Semester 2001
Advisor: Chris Gilbert
Gustavus Student Repository
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. America After September 11 ,. , 2001
A. President Bush and the Response to Terrorism
B. Congressional Reactions
C. The Public Reaction
II. Presidential Campaigns and Foreign Policy
A. The 1992 campaign
B. The 2000 campaign
III. The Helms Era: the U.S. Congress and Foreign Policy, 1994-2000
IV. Recent International Trends and the Need for a New U.S. Foreign Policy
Conclusion
Gustavus Student Repository
Introduction
Most political analysts and historians would agree that America has remained,
throughout its relatively brief history, an isolationist nation, from its foreign policy to
its cultural attitudes. We have only taken serious interest in international affairs when
forced to do so; the only international events that have ever played large roles in
American political elections have been military conflicts. Politicians have mostly left
foreign relations to bureaucrats, confident that voters consider it to be a low priority.
Thus, although our interactions with other nations have sometimes inspired policy, they
have rarely entered that sphere of politics most familiar to Americans, political
campaigns.
This paper proposes the idea that while international relations has long
remained the shadowy domain of executive branch policy, the irreversible trend of
globalization will soon make it a prominent issue in presidential campaigns and
congressional policy, before eventually entering even congressional electoral politics.
The first section discusses the events of September 1 1th, its consequences, and how they
relate to the thesis. President Bush's reaction to the terrorist attacks, and the measures
taken by Congress, point to the political atmosphere that will undoubtedly surround the
2002 and 2004 elections. Also, the response of the American public could indicate the
future voting patterns and preferences that will determine the results of those elections.
However, the paper will show that the terrorist attacks may only have added
urgency to the inevitable changes in the political environment fostered by globalization
trends in the last decade. In order to do so, it examines two recent presidential
campaigns, the 1992 and 2000 campaigns, as well as a brief but dramatic period in
1
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congressional policymaking. By comparing these components to international events
during the same time period, the paper will demonstrate that the lack of clear foreign
policy and productive political dialogue has created a void lawmakers, politicians, and
voters can no longer afford to over look.
Future political campaigns, and future Congresses, must develop a successful
replacement for the Cold War doctrines that guided U.S. foreign policy before 1992.
Our nation's relationship with the world must become a long-term priority for the
American political system. The post-September 11th climate will certainly hasten this
dramatic change, but the development must continue beyond any temporary resolutions
oftbe current crisis. Eventually, even candidates for Congress may need to define their
international affairs positions, and voters will consider them important, if not essential.
The United States will then join the rest of the world as it enters a new global system of
trading blocks and international governing organizations, further blurring the line
between domestic and international politics.
Gustavus Student Repository
Part I
America After September 11th
As of September 1 1th, 2001, virtually any discussion of U.S. foreign policy must
include the "War on Terror" and its consequences. The nation's response to the
terrorist attacks have redefined the connections between foreign policy and domestic
politics, perhaps irrevocably. For three months, America's relationship with other
nations has been our highest priority. We are at war, if only because our president and
the media have decided that we are. If Americans have not yet needed to buy war
ration stamps or register for a military draft, we have felt the war's effects through
anthrax scares, heightened security in airports, and cultural saturation (flags, tee-shirts,
bumper stickers, television specials, etc.). A year from now, on Election Day, voters
will remember their legislators' words and actions in the context of war. In 2004,
assuming President Bush runs for re-election, the war will probably be a key factor in
the presidential campaign.
A. President Bush and the Response to Terrorism
Early in his term, when an American spy plane crash-landed in China, President
Bush faced what political commentators characterized as his one of his first major
foreign policy tests'. Of course, no pundits foresaw that the president would eventually
be placed in a situation similar in historical significance to Franklin D. Roosevelt's on
December 7th, 1941. Historians will mark the terrorist attacks as the events that
shaped George Bush, Jr. as a foreign policy maker.
1 Thomas, Evan. "First Brush With History."" Newsweek, May 7, 2001, p.24
s
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Initially, Bush could do nothing except make the requisite speeches, vaguely
declaring war and trying to comfort and calm the nation. His address on September
11th simply expressed shock, offered condolences, and allowed for a few political
banalities. Statements like, "I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who
have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks2" have the dual benefits of
sounding good and meaning next to nothing. Certainly, Bush's brief comments did not
include any particularly memorable quotes. Yet his words accomplished their task,
and were well received by the American public. Job approval ratings for the president
skyrocketed from a slight pre-September 11th dip ( 51 % ) to just under 90% almost
overnight•.
Only minutes after watching the video of the World Trade Center attack, Bush
had told aides, "We're at war. That's what we're paid for, boys4." The first comment
made foreign policy out of three short words: a serious if informal declaration (in the
modern presidential tradition, without the permission of Congress). The second
indicated the President's foreign policy priorities. "I realize I'm the commander in chief
and the country has just come under attack," he told journalists, recalling the moment
he was informed of the Trade Center crashes5. Bush sees himself, and may always have
seen himself, as first and foremost the Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed
forces and responsible for the nation's security. For him, diplomacy is only an
incidental extension of the military role. The administration's preparations at the
beginning of its term reflected this perspective. Bush had already mentioned terrorism
'Vital Speeches of the Day, votd.com
3 Gallup Polling Organization, analysis of public opinion trends, www.gallup.com
4 Fineman, Howard and Martha Brant, "The First Team," Newsweek, Dec.S, 2001, p.24
, ibid., p.24
4
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early in his campaign for president, in his only major speech on defense6, and although
September 11th came as a devastating shock, his team of advisors were quick to devise a
war plan. Efficiency has been another important aspect of Bush foreign policy
decisions. "I don't spend a lot of time theorizing or agonizing, he explained in an
interview with Newsweek. "I get things done7."
Bush approved the broad military strategy for Afghanistan, but delegated much
of his authority to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Foreign policy advisor
Condoleeza Rice compared the President to a football coach choosing a playbook with
Rumsfeld at quarterback calling audibles on every play8. Having set the Air Force in
motion, Bush then began reaching out to potential allies, especially British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, who eagerly proclaimed his country America's loyal ally. "We,
the British, are a people that stand by our friends in time of need, trial and tragedy, and
we do so without hesitation now9." Bush agreed, "America has no truer friend than
Great Britain. 10" Other NA TO members pledged their support, as well as the
Organization of American States and even the Arab League. The United Nations
Security Council resolved that all UN members cooperate with American security and
justice activities 11.
The home front effort began shortly afterwards. Bush announced a new
Cabinet-rank position, the Office of Homeland Security, and chose Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Ridge to head the office (although not officially a part of the Cabinet,
6 ibid., p.27
1 ibid., p.28
s ibid., p.27
9 Address by Tony Blair to a special session of Parliament, Sept. 14, 2001. Vital Speeches efthe Day,
Oct. I, 2001, pp.746-8
10 Address by the President to a joint session of Congress and the American people, Washington, D.C.,
Sept.20, 2001, Vital Speeches efthe Day, Oct. I, 2001
11 Powell, Colin. "A Long, Hard Campaign," Newsweek, Oct. 15, 2001, p.53
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Ridge enjoys Cabinet rank and consequently attends all Cabinet meetings12). It was the
first new addition to the Cabinet since the Secretary for Veterans' Affairs under George
Bush, Sr. Interestingly, Rep. David Kucinich, D-Ohio, had proposed a new Cabinet
office in July (H.R. 2459): a Department of Peace, led by a Secretary of Peace who would
participate in all foreign policy decisions 13. The bill has yet to reach the floor of
Congress, let alone the President's desk, but nevertheless it makes a sharp contrast to
the militaristic Office of Homeland Security.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and his Justice Department represent the other
half of the White House's domestic war strategy. In his investigation, Ashcroft has
employed the help of other nations' police organizations. While they have all been
cooperative, some foreign officials have expressed concern about the American
prosecutorial system, especially with regards to the death penalty. Zacarias Moussaoui,
a French citizen and the first suspect to be tried for the terrorist attacks, has
received legal assistance from the French government. "No person benefitting from
French consular protection should be executed," French Justice Minister Marylise
Lebranchu warned recently 14. America's continued use of capital punishment has added
to diplomatic tensions with Europe in the past few years, as all European Union
members have abolished the death penalty15 . Under the circumstances of war, even the
Attorney General must consider the consequences of his actions for international
relations.
The war against terrorism has been an intensive crash course in foreign policy
for President Bush, who during the 2000 campaign had confessed, 'Tm not going to
12 The White House, www.whitehouse.gov
1:1 Homepage of Rep. David Kucinich, www.house.gov/kucinich/action/peace
14 BBC News, www.bbc.co.uk, Dec. IS, 2001
15 Europe/the magazine of the European Union, www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty
6
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play like I'm a person who's spent hours involved with foreign policy. I am who I
am 16." So far, he has public support. Whereas before September 11th only 53% of poll
respondents said that Bush "inspires confidence," in October 75% said he did 17.
Americans have seemed willing to reserve judgment on the President's lack of foreign
policy experience out of respect for the war effort, at least temporarily.
B. Congressional Reactions
Aside from a few committees, the current U.S. Congress is even less familiar
with international relations policy than the President. Like the White House, the
Senate especially suffers from inexperience; although a veteran legislator, Senator Tom
Daschle has been Majority Leader for a mere four months. Obviously, none of the
senators or congressmen have handled a similar situation before. However, the House
and Senate responded smoothly and swilly to the attacks. Significantly, both bodies
decided to remain in session. At their first press conferences, the leaders rushed to
present a united front. "The world should know that the members of both parties in
both houses stand united," Daschle proclaimed on the Senate floor 18. Senate Minority
Leader Trent Lott made a similar statement. House leaders Dennis Hastert and
Richard Gephardt, who normally avoid each other, appeared jointly to demonstrate
their spirit of cooperation. Gephardt used very dramatic language to make his point,
pledging that "no air and no light" would separate him from the President and Speaker
Hastert 19. "We are shoulder to shoulder ... We are in complete agreement, and we will
"Interview with Jim Lehrer, PBS News Hour, April 27th, 2000, Online News Hour homepage,
www.pbs.org/ newshour I election2000
" Gallup Polling Organization, www.gallup.com/poll/Releases/Pro 11009.asp
18 Cochran, John and Mike Christensen. "Regrouping With a Common Purpose." Congressional Quart.erly
Weekly, Sept. 15, 2001, p.2116
"'ibid., p.2116
7
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act together as one," he added. As further evidence of their committrnent to harmony,
both parties suspended fundraising20.
Once the initial shock of the attacks had worn off, Congress began wondering if
the unity would hold. Part of the motive behind the idealistic speeches was to raise the
profile of Congress as an active participant in the war planning21. None of the senators
or members of Congress wanted to submit to the President for long. But their support
of Bush depends on his poll numbers. "If the executive appears to lose public support,
chances are congressional criticism will begin," former Rep. Robert S. Walker, R-Pa.,
told Congressional Quarterly••. "In this type of situation, Congress follows public
sentiment." So far, Bush's enormous popularity has left Congress with little political
leverage, and that weakness has encouraged cooperation.
The anthrax mailings in October also prevented Congress from finding its voice.
While the House adjourned to sweep offices and inspect its mail, the Senate stayed open.
The press seized on the image of a divided Congress23. Though senators and
represent-atives
alike tried to downplay the event, the media frenzy made the process of returning
to work slower and more difficult.
Amid some bickering over Bush judicial nominatons and taxes24, Congress
passed a 1.4 billion for "foreign
2° Foerstel, Karen and David Nather. "Beneath Capitol's Harmony, Debate Simmers Patiently."
Congressional Quarterly Weekly, Sept.22, 2001, p.2187
"ibid., p.2186
22 ibid., p.2187
23 Nather, David. "Shaken Congress Confronts Bio-Terrorism Here and Now." Congressional Quarterly
Weekly, Oct.20, 2001, pp.2454-2457.
24 ibid.
25 "Emergency Spending Highlights." (table) Congressional Quarterly, Oct.20, 2001, p.2467
8
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aid," 20 billion, half of which he cannot spend without first notifying
Congress. The other 15 billion to an emergency spending package,
but Republicans, with the help of a Bush veto threat, defeated the motion. The GOP
feared the political results of overspending, while Democrats contended that more
money was needed for "homeland defense." The White House and the Republicans
came out of the conflict winners, but the clash revealed cracks in the wartime coalition,
leaving no doubt that the 2002 elections will be as contentious as any previous
Congressional elections. Several recent polls of likely 2002 voters showed the two
26 Palmer, Elizabeth and Adriel Bettelheim. "War and Civil Liberties: Congress Gropes for a Role."
Congressional Quarterly Weekly, Dec. I, 2001, pp.2820-2823
27 ibid., p.2823
28 Parks, Daniel. "White House Shows Some Muscle in Supplemental Spending Cash." Congressional
Quarterly Weekly, Dec.8, 2001, p.289S
9
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parties perfectly deadlocked in the early stages of the campaign29• Meanwhile, the
President has fared much better than Congress in approval ratings. Recent polls in
both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times put Congressional approval
ratings at 57%, unusually high for Congress but still thirty points lower than the
presidential rating30.
C. The Public Reaction
Understandably, polled Americans gave unambiguous responses in the days
following September 11th. A Gallup survey conducted between September 21st and
23rd found 89% in support of military action31. Impressively, a majority also believed
that a long-term war might be appropriate. And 50% suggested that military
operations in Afghanistan should proceed even without the approval of the UN Security
Council, if necessary.
Americans' priorities for Congress and the President have undergone dramatic
changes, at least for the time being. Whereas in January 2001 only 17% of respondents
told Gallup that foreign affairs were "extremely important," 52% said the same in
October32 , an increase of 35%. No other issue experienced such a considerable change
in perceptions, though the economy and defense had increased scores.
Although the public supports the military operations in Afghanistan, poll
respondents have been reluctant to advocate an expanded war. Fox News, often
accused of having a conservative bias, asked, "It is widely acknowledged that Iraq is
29 Polling Report.com, www.pollingreport.co m/cong2002.htm#Generic
,o PollingReport.com. Congress/Job Ratings, Dec.7-8. www.pollingreport.com/congj ob.htm
" Gallup Polling Organization, poll analysis, www.gallup.com/poll/Releases/PrOl 1004.asp
" Gallup Polling Organization, poll analysis, www.gallup.com/poll/Releases/PrOl JOJO.asp
10
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developing weapons of mass destruction. Do you think the U.S. should take immediate
military action against Iraq, or try to develop an international consensus before taking
action against Iraq?"" Only 36% chose "immediate military action," while 54% felt
international cooperation was important.
Another way to gauge popular opinion about the attacks and their consequences
might be to review the litany of public commentary in the nation's op-ed pages and
magazines and on talk shows. But the most noteworthy opinions have so far been the
most extreme, as moderate commentators have tried to play along with the war effort.
As a guest on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, the Rev. Jerry Falwell threw a verbal haud
grenade: "The ACLU's [American Civil Liberties Union] got to take a lot of blame for
this," he said of September l lth34. He also blamed homosexuals, federal judges and
abortion clinics for prompting God to lift the protective shield that otherwise would
have saved the World Trade Center.
On the other end of the political spectrum, talk show host Bill Maher aud
feminist author Susan Sontag both implied that the terrorist attacks had required
courage35. The ensuing media firestorm may have dissuaded other liberals from
criticizing the war, while doing nothing to heighten the level of political debate.
Neither the Sontag nor Falwell perspectives represent major segments of the
population, but the attention they received may point to future political correctness
battles as the war continues and the 2002 campaigns begin.
55 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, Dec. 12-lS source
Women In Washington
No full textThroughout history women have been making their marks in advancing our systems of government to make it more equal for all people. Beginning with the vote, from there we have made great strides in pressing forward women's issues. One of the greatest contributions to helping get women's issues addressed comes from lobbying groups. These groups have brought forward issues that were always pushed aside, or considered not relevant to legislators. With an increasing amount of women lobbyists, these issues are being addressed with more passion, but it has not always been that way. We have to look back to the 1970's when women started to make their advancement in the lobbying system, and when women's issues started to make their way to legislators.Women
In
Washington
Meghan R. O'Neil
Political Science Thesis
December 18, 2001
Gustavus Student Repository
Chapter 1: Women's Issues
Throughout history women have been making their marks in advancing our
systems of government to make it more equal for all people. Beginning with the vote,
from there we have made great strides in pressing forward women's issues. One of the
greatest contributions to helping get women's issues addressed comes from lobbying
groups. These groups have brought forward issues that were always pushed aside, or
considered not relevant to legislators. With an increasing amount of women lobbyists,
these issues are being addressed with more passion, but it has not always been that way.
We have to look back to the 1970's when women started to make their advancement in
the lobbying system, and when women's issues started to make their way to legislators.
Equal Rights Amendment
One of the first issues that needed to be addressed for women was the equal rights
amendment. The equal rights amendment was first proposed without including equal
rights for the sexes. Many women thought that it would be important to include women
in this bill because they felt that they were not considered equal. Martha Griffiths, a
Democrat elected to Congress in the 1950's, worked hard to add sex to the equal rights
amendment (Bingham 17). Her feeling was that black women would be protected from
job discrimination, while white women would not. This would be completely unfair to
not include everyone in an Equal Rights Amendment. "But before Griffiths introduced
her amendment, Howard Smith- the Virginian leader of the Southern conservative
members of Congress and chairmen of the Rules Committee- beat her to it" (Bingham
18). Griffiths was not upset by this, she was just happy that the amendment was
Gustavus Student Repository
introduced to the Congress. Although Smith had introduced it with different intentions
from Griffiths, Griffiths was successful in having her amendment passed. She made a
plea that if one was to vote against this amendment it would be a vote against your wife,
daughter, or sister (Bingham 18). "Griffiths' speech helped push the amendment to
passage by a vote of 168 to 133" (Bingham 18). So this shows that it took a woman in
Congress to represent us to truly make a statement, but it took awhile for even this
amendment to go through Congress.
In 1972 Congress approved the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (Tinker 49).
"Although the amendment was not ratified by the deadline date of June 30, 1982, the
ratification attempt left an invaluable legacy to American women" (Tinker 49). The
amendment read that you cannot be denied your rights on account of sex (Tinker 49).
This was a huge step in forwarding the ways of women into the government.
It is important for the United States that all citizens are equal regardless of sex or
race. Women needed this amendment to begin their stride in improving their role in
society. The problem is the amount of time that it took to simply bring this issue to
Congress. Women have been fighting for equal rights since the 1930's. Back then the
National Association of Women Lawyers were a backbone of support for the Equal
Rights Amendment (Tinker 52). It is a shame that women have had to work so hard and
long to try and get an issue addressed that should be common sense. If our country is to
be the land of the free, and if we are all created equal, then women should be included in
the equal rights amendment. It should not take representation by women to bring this
issue up, it should be considered regardless of who is the representative. Men and
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women in this country should hold high standards across the board regardless of sex, and
we therefore should not have even needed this amendment.
The most repulsive fact that goes along with the Equal Rights Amendment is that
it was never ratified. Only thirty of the fifty state legislatures ratified it so it did not
become an amendment (Britannica). Some states said that they would not ratify the
amendment because they thought it would hurt women in the long run. Overall it is a
shame that our country cannot pass an amendment that states that everyone should have
equal rights. This shows that there is a need for women's representation so that
amendments like these are passed because women can address the issues that affect them
personal[ y.
Abortion
The next women's issue that is important to address, and probably one of the most
controversial, is abortion. This is a right that many women feel is important to their
health and their choice because it is part of their body. Although I am on the side of
opposing abortion in most circumstances, I do see that it is a passionate topic for many
women. This is especially an important topic for women who have had a personal
experience with abortion. These women do not see it as an issue that the government
should have control over. One reason that this has been so controversial is many of the
legislators are males, and will never have to experience an abortion personally. This is
why women feel that it is important to have women representing them in this. This is
something that a male will not experience; it has been the influence of women's
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organizations that have pushed forward the fight for more women's rights in dealing with
abortion.
The first major movement for abortion was the Supreme Court case of Roe v.
Wade. This case changed the history of abortion in our country forever. It all began in
Texas with a twenty-one year old female who was pregnant. The girl, Norma Mccorvey,
was a high school dropout and pregnant with her second child. She did not want this
child because she knew that she would be unable to financially provide for the child and
wished to have an abortion. Because abortions were illegal had been illegal in most
states since the early 1900's she had to fight for the right to have an abortion. She felt
that since it was her body she should be allowed to choose what she did with it. And she
was not alone; it was the early 1970s and the sexual revolution was at a peak. This was
an issue that would help her case, since she had no problem finding supporters to back
her cause.
On May 3rd of 1971, the Supreme Court heard the case of Roe v. Wade.
Mccorvey was fighting to have the current law in Texas that dealt with abortion to be
overturned:
The current law on abortion stated that "If any person shall designedly administer
to a pregnant women or knowingly procure to be administered with her consent
any drug or medicine, or shall use towards her any violence or means whatever
externally or internally applied, and thereby procure an abortion, he shall be
confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years; if it is
done without her consent, the punishment shall be doubled" (Craig and O'Brien
11).
McCorvey wanted the law overturned because she felt that if a woman wanted an
abortion it is her right, and therefore she should be able to receive proper medical
attention when doing so, which completely was against the current standing law. She
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wanted the courts to rule " . . . first, for a declaratory judgment that the law was
unconstitutional and, second for and injunction-a court order- against enforcement of the
law's provision" (Craig and O'Brien 12). In January of 1973 the Supreme Court sided
with Mccorvey (Roe) saying that the Texas law was unconstitutional on the grounds of
personal privacy. This decision was a huge success for pro-abortion supporters, and
changed the history of abortion forever.
The landmark decision of Roe v. Wade allowed abortion to become a very
political issue. "Roe v. Wade elevated the issue of abortion to the national political
agenda and invited a larger political struggle in the country" (Craig and O'Brien 32).
This began the new movement of several interest groups on both sides of the issue.
After Roe v. Wade was decided many people did not share the same opinion as the
justices. Many people did not support the option of abortion and thought that it was
murder. This caused a major need for pro-life groups to become politically active in our
country. The majority of these groups used religion as their backing for support. One of
the major supporters of pro-life groups was the Catholic Church; this was one religion
that stated its opinion loud and clear against abortion. Several Popes have been adamant
about their feelings toward abortion and the fact that they see it as murder, and so does
the Lord. Another major supporter of the pro-life campaign was homemakers in our
country. In the early years following the Roe v. Wade decision sixty-three percent of the
women supporters of the pro-life campaign did not hold a job outside of the household,
thus giving them more time to protest and picket (Craig and O'Brien 46). The main
focus of the pro-life groups was to state that they thought that abortion was inhumane and
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it corrupted family values. Therefore it was easier for them to find women supporters
with families.
On the other side of the issue there are many women supporters of abortion. For
instance ninety-four percent of working women were in support of abortion being
legalized in the early 1970's (Craig and O'Brien 46). These women were supporting the
issue of choice; it may not be that they all agree with abortion for themselves, but feel
that it should be up to each woman to make her own choice. Groups that back the prochoice
side include Planned Parenthood, The National Abortion Rights Action League
and so on (Craig and O'Brien 50). The focus of this side is that the needs of the woman
should come first and the government should not restrict upon a woman's liberty and
choice of what to do with her body.
Looking at the abortion issue in great detail shows that abortion is an issue that
should be represented by women. Both sides have women supporters and have strong
reasons for why they have chosen that side, and this is something that a man cannot
completely understand, since men will never be faced with the issue of having an
abortion or not. ''The abortion debate has become a debate among women, women with
different experiences of it, and different resources with which to cope with it" (Craig and
O'Brien 47).
Childcare
When many people think of women's issues the first thing that comes to their
mind is childcare. Women have often times been stereotyped as the childcare provider;
they would stay home while the men would bring home the bacon. This was very
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common for most families, especially before the1980s. Now the times are changing and
women are taking on new careers. Many women do not want to sacrifice their careers
because they have children, while other families greatly depend on that second income.
There are two major issues that need to be addressed in dealing with the issue of
childcare; one, how much time does a mother deserve to have off when she has a child;
and second, should the government or employers provide childcare for their employees?
Often times families are putting so much of their income into childcare, it is almost not
worth having two incomes. Then there are single parents who need to have childcare, or
else not work. Overall childcare is a tough issue; who decides what is right for the
family?
In 1985 Congress proposed the Family and Medical Leave Act. The idea of the
bill was that employers had to allow women so much time off after they had a child, and
women could not be penalized for being pregnant. The other part of the bill was to
protect employees who had seriously ill children and make sure that they would not lose
their job if they stayed at home with the child. The problem with this bill is the president
would not sign it; both Reagan and Bush did not support this bill so it stayed in Congress
until the 103rd Congress came to office (Bingham 124). This was the first bill that they
passed, under the new presidency of Bill Clinton. The Family and Medical Leave Act
was a great stride for women and childcare, because it stressed the importance of women
staying with their child for those crucial first weeks and not having to worry about losing
their job. It also addressed that it is important for a parent to receive time off when their
child is critically ill. If they lose their job because they are caring for their children,
many times they will lose their health insurance. So without an income or health
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insurance the parents are being penalized because they have a sick child. It is very
important that the government protect the jobs of those who are caring for their sick
children.
Health Care
The last issue that women have a major interest in is health care. When women
were not represented in Congress, health care research money often times went only to
research for men's illnesses. Women were not getting their health care concerns
addressed and so research funded by the government was nearly nonexistent. That is,
until 1976 when women started to step up their role in politics. The Carter administration
was willing to hear women's voices and concerns about health care, but when he was not
reelected women's health care was put on the backburner. Until the 1990's when women
started to make their voices heard.
The first and main goals that women wanted to be addressed were funding for
breast and ovarian cancer research, family planning, and abortion (Bingham 207). These
issues were important to all women because the diseases have affected most women or
someone close to them has been affected. Another reason they wanted to get their voices
heard was these issues had been ignored, while men's health care issues were being
addressed. When looking at previous spending on research for health care, issues such as
heart disease and how it affects men were getting addressed. The women did not want
these programs to not be focused on; they just wanted their issues to get equal attention.
So in the 1990's a group of women joined together to get their issues tackled. It
all began when Congress was discussing the budget of the National Institutes of Health in
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1992, and decided it would be appropriate to increase spending by 800 million dollars for
that year (Bingham 203). With an increase of this much Democrat Louise Slaughter
suggested that 500 million dollars go to women's health concerns. "A few weeks earlier,
Elaine Ryan, Slaughter's administrative assistant, had arrived at the 6.2 billion
NIH reauthorization- a bill that President Bush had vetoed in 1992 because it contained
fetal-tissue research provisions" (Bingham 207). This bill increased funiling in all major
areas of women's healthcare:
The bill increased funding for breast cancer research and detection by 75 million
for research on ovarian cancer (which in 1989 had been funded at only 30 million in contraception and infertility research (which in the
1980s had been funded at $8 million a year). As Clinton's secretary of Health and
Human Services, Donna Sh al ala, said, "women's health would not be an issue if it
weren't for the women in Congress" (Bingham 207).
This bill made major strides in women's healthcare issues. Like Shalala said, it took
women representation to get the issues addressed. It is so important that women
represent their issues because they can understand what it is like to go through having
breast cancer or ovarian cancer. They made a major statement in getting this passed.
The women ilid not stop just at research for women's healthcare issues; they
wanted funding for regular women's doctor appointments that dealt with their issues.
Things were looking good in the healthcare department at this time because Hillary
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Clinton was appointed to head this initiative. The women in Congress were proposing
that the government should fund routine mammograms, pap smears, and they also wanted
to include funding for abortion. This was the most controversial part of this action
because there were many pro-life activists who believed that the government should not
have any part in funding abortions. The pro-life supporters thought that by paying for
abortions the government would be infringing upon state laws regarding abortion. The
women who proposed abortion to be included in the bill justified it, though:
They had three arguments for including abortion in the comprehensive benefits
package. First, abortion coverage was already provided in most private health
insurance plans, and excluding it from the new comprehensive benefits package
would revoke benefits already available to most American women. The exclusion
of abortion services would also have a widespread impact on the future of
abortion availability, pushing it even farther into the outskirts of the medical
profession. Including abortion in the health care plan's benefits package would
not be the equivalent of the federal government's directly paying for abortions,
the women argued. The government would only be subsidizing the premium for
low-income women so that they could buy private health insurance (Bingham
209).
They thought that without including abortions women would get less coverage than they
do now. Adding abortions to the proposed coverage caused much more discussion and
negative reactions to the bill.
Overall it seemed that most of Congress was willing to approve the Health
Security Act, especially for the routine mammograms and pap smears, but by adding the
abortion was the tip of the iceberg and made the bill too controversial. Another problem
the bill's sponsors faced was that Congress was not willing to cover women every year
for their routine checkups and they did not support giving them to women under fifty.
The problem is that women younger than that do need to get these tests done.
When Bill and Hillary Clinton introduced the final draft of the Health Security
Act, on October 27, free mammogram coverage had been expanded to include
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women of all ages who were considered to be "at risk" for breast cancer, and
partially funded mammograms would be granted to women of any age whose
doctor decided the screening was medically appropriate (Bingham 211).
Although the changes that the Clintons made to the bill were improvements, some were
still worried that not enough women would be getting coverage. "The vast majority of
women with breast cancer have no risk factors, and the task force was not comfortable
with women having to rely on doctors as gatekeepers" (Bingham 211). So the bill was
not perfect to the writers, but they had made strides from where the coverage used to be.
The final result of all this hard work was that the bill did not get passed. It was
the abortion clause that had a definite effect on the bill, and could have been the reason
for it not passing.
In the end, employer mandates and new truces proved to be larger, more
fundamental stumbling blocks for health care reform than abortion. After
thousands of hours of meetings, hearings, markups, and press conferences; after
nineteen months of political posturing and behind-the-scenes deal making, health
care reform died (Bingham 224).
Even though the bill did not get passed the women who proposed it did not feel like it
was a failure because it raised awareness of what needs to be addressed. They got out
there and told the government that healthcare is important to women and that there issues
need to be addressed. "In short, the women's health agenda had become a political force
to be reckoned with" (Bingham 224).
After looking at the past of women's issues there is still a need for change in
Congress, but at least things have been improving. In the last half-century we have
addressed equal rights, abortion, childcare, healthcare and many more issues that are
important to women. Although there has not been a success in all areas there has been
increased awareness. Women have made their way to the Hill and will be staying there
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so that the issues that women want addressed will not be ignored anymore. The changes
that we have seen have been great, but there is much more to come.
Chapter II: Interest Groups Perspectives
In the history of the United States interest groups have played a major role in
getting issues addressed and passed in Congress. Interest groups have become much
more widespread since the I 970s. This is because people have
School Vouchers: Solution or Problem in American Politics
No full textThe debate over the proper relationship between religion and the American political structure is far from novel. Since the creation of our country, a true consensus has never been reached. The founders toiled to reach a consensus and draft an agreeable position in writing the framework of our legal system, the Constitution of the United States. Since that time, however, interpretations of those sacred words written in the First Amendment have varied copiously, from one extreme to the other. Complicating the issue further, public policy in the field of church and state has also varied in its effectiveness and acceptability. One particular area of public policy, tremendously important to the vast majority of the population, is education. Both federal and state political leaders undertake the responsibility of producing policy that maintains optimal educational programs for the country's young people to experience, as they are the key to nation's future. As with many issues in American society, there are disparities on what these policies should consist of. A rather recent policy implementation of some states and localities has been publicly funded scholarship programs to offer private school alternatives to those residents in areas with sub-par public schools. Programs such as these supplement tuition for participating private schools, including private religious schools. The programs have conjured strong support as well as fierce opposition. Proponents argue that the programs are within constitutional restraints against the establishment of religion and effective policy to provide choice for parents and increase the accountability of public schools. Opponents of such programs argue that constitutionality is breached and that the programs are not effective policy in battling the public education system's problems. This paper identifies the constitutional problems facing the programs and tackles the question as to whether or not they are effective public policy.School Vouchers:
Solution or Problem in American Politics
Scott Witty
Political Science Thesis
Religion and Politics
Spring 2003
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Introduction
The debate over the proper relationship between religion and the American
political structure is far from novel. Since the creation of our country, a true consensus
has never been reached. The founders toiled to reach a consensus and draft an agreeable
position in writing the framework of our legal system, the Constitution of the United
States. Since that time, however, interpretations of those sacred words written in the First
Amendment have varied copiously, from one extreme to the other. Complicating the
issue further, public policy in the field of church and state has also varied in its
effectiveness and acceptability. One particular area of public policy, tremendously
important to the vast majority of the population, is education. Both federal and state
political leaders undertake the responsibility of producing policy that maintains optimal
educational programs for the country's young people to experience, as they are the key to
nation's future. As with many issues in American society, there are disparities on what
these policies should consist of. A rather recent policy implementation of some states
and localities has been publicly funded scholarship programs to offer private school
alternatives to those residents in areas with sub-par public schools. Programs such as
these supplement tuition for participating private schools, including private religious
schools. The programs have conjured strong support as well as fierce opposition.
Proponents argue that the programs are within constitutional restraints against the
establishment of religion and effective policy to provide choice for parents and increase
the accountability of public schools. Opponents of such programs argue that
constitutionality is breached and that the programs are not effective policy in battling the
public education system's problems. This paper identifies the constitutional problems
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facing the programs and tackles the question as to whether or not they are effective public
policy.
Historical Background
A relationship between education and religion is not limited to contemporary
society. As far back as the ancient Jews, through the Middle Ages, and continuing
through the present, the two strong players in society have co-existed and crossed into
each other's domains at varying levels. Since the conception of the relationship between
the two, a debate has been produced and sustained as to the optimal, most desired, and
most productive level of inter-relatedness between the two for society.
Many historical figures have played a role in the inception and continued debate,
some advocating separation and others supporting a more active relationship. Great
thinkers of history, including Martin Luther, John Milton, Friedrich Froebe! and Jean
Jacques Rousseau, held religious teachings in basic education to be important, but even
they had different views on what age these aspects should be introduced and how much
they should be combined (Ulich, 31 ). It is important to note that "Europeans were
breathing in a religiously saturated atmosphere" at that particular time (Ulrich, 32).
Enter the New World, the colonies that formed from the brave crossers of the
Atlantic, and the ensuing nation constructed mainly to break away from England's
stronghold and the established Church of England. In this new land, freedom from
establishment was sought, but not always practiced in true form. This is not to be overexaggerated,
however. What the colonies did take from Europe was the historical
phenomenon that "Europe had sought to embody the idea of a Christian society and
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culture . . . and early immigrants sought to claim America" for just that (Michaelsen, 36).
Certain Christian religions - the Congregationalists and Quakers in the north, Anglicans
in the middle colonies, and Protestants in the south - created semi-established faiths
within communities, colonies, and states. "Dissenters were dealt with harshly," as
minority congregations were not permitted to establish schools among other persecuting
efforts (Beggs, 38).
Before further discussion of the philosophies of founding leaders on the role of
religion in public education, a description of educational goals and standards is necessary.
Unlike today's emphasis on the "broad acquisition of knowledge, vocational skills, and
the development of the individual child," early colonial education stressed "that
revelation through the Bible was the source of truth and salvation" as the primary goal of
education (Beggs, 39). Education was the primary player in religious growth for young
people. The ability to read was necessary to take part in learning the Bible. The Quakers
were an interesting exception to this belief, as they "held that any soul, regardless of the
mind's ability, could communicate directly with the Holy Spirit" (Beggs, 40). Further,
many held the belief that "some notion of 'good citizenship' was deemed worth
promoting as an aim of education" (Byrnes, 37). Early educational leaders took
philosopher John Locke's statement, " 'Tis virtue, then, direct virtue, which is the hard
and valuable part to be aimed at in education . . . . All other considerations and
accomplishments should give way and be postponed to this
"'
as morality and virtue are
the foundation of any and all education (Hilliard, 26). These attributes in all citizens
were deemed necessary for a successful and democratic society. Therefore, "the aim of
education was to produce conformists to the established religious doctrine and
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institutional structure," which at that time meant the religious doctrines and practices of
the dominant faith or denomination of the community, colony, and later state (Byrnes,
39).
With those strong statements, one would be led to believe that Americans as a
population were the epitome of religious activists. This is not true, however. Statistics
show that "not more than five percent of the population belonged to any church in 1776"
(Ulich, 36). Church attendance and belonging statistics should not be taken totally on
face value given the problems with measuring them, but the low numbers should indicate
that the general population of the American colonies was not preoccupied with religious
activity. The views of the founding era concerning religion in education could show an
inheritance of ideals from the native lands of Europe.
The legacies of the founding fathers are evident in many facets of historical as
well as contemporary politics. The topic of religion and education is no different.
Similar to many other issues, however, this includes ardent disagreements and vigorous
debates. Another similarity is that the beliefs and foundations put forth by these men set
the stage for what was to come. The main players in the early debates over religion in
public education include Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson was known for his separationist stance on religion and
government. He coined the metaphor of a "wall of separation" between church and state
in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, in which he intended to make a clear barrier between
the affairs of religion and public politics (Fowler, 67). As far as education was
concerned, Jefferson believed that "the aim of education was to produce moral, healthy
individuals whose thorough acquaintance with all useful science made them capable of
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independent and cooperative action" (Healey, 159). By this statement, Jefferson's focus
on many of the effects of the Enlightenment in regards to the sciences and democracy are
apparent, but his mention of morality brings up an important point. This presents an
interesting facet of his strict belief in separation, due to the belief during that era that
religion and morality were closely connected. Jefferson believed in a Creator that "had
made man a moral agent in order to promote the happiness of men" (Healey, 160).
Jefferson went further saying, " 'True religion is morality ... the moral precepts, innate in
man, and made part of his physical constitution, as necessary for his social being"
(Healey, 160), and that "education was really a perversion if it did not provide for the
development of morality through religion" (Healey, 161). Jefferson's understanding of
the necessity of morality indicates some role of religion in education, but the role goes no
further than this. The separation came in the form of not allowing "dogmas, doctrines,
assertions, and beliefs having no direct connection with morality" into the realm of public
education (Healey, 161). As the Enlightenment had rubbed off on Jefferson, he rejected
the connection between dogmas and doctrines with morality on the basis of a lack of
"experimental proof' (Healey, 161). Moreover, Jefferson believed that dogmas caused
immorality in men leading them to "quarreling, fighting, burning, and torturing one
another" (Healey, 162). These beliefs, beyond the reason of man, caused the surrender of
the free moral agency of men, which Jefferson strived for the production of through
education.
Within education, Jefferson wanted not the training of "moral law, but the
development of the processes of moral behavior," which every man had an innate
physical faculty for (Healey, 163). He believed that through experience and repetition
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this moral faculty could be trained to act morally and restrain from immoral actions.
Beyond the basic fundamentals of honing the physical moral faculty, Jefferson allows
freedom of belief and exercise. His separation of churches and public institutions
focused on the entry of specific dogma and doctrine into the picture. Beyond that basic
moral function, Jefferson promotes religious freedom to believe and exercise.
John Adams, also a prominent name in the small group of founding fathers,
agreed with Jefferson on some aspects but differed greatly on others. Along with
Jefferson, Adams felt that our nation needed religious liberty, but in their notion of what
that liberty entailed came the differences. As already noted, Jefferson believed that total
separation between church and state was necessary for all to enjoy religious liberty.
Adams believed that freedom of many private religions should join the "mild
establishment of one 'pub lick religion
"'
to achieve a shared understanding among the
polity of values such as "honesty, diligence, devotion, obedience, virtue, and love of God,
neighbor, and self' (Hutson, 3). This translates into a similar belief to Jefferson in the
emphasis on morality within education, but differs in how the institution should make this
a 'shared' morality. Adams was concerned that too much freedom, or lack of religion,
within this zone of education would lead to the falling out of morality and the destruction
of democracy, liberty, and good citizenship. With those concerns, Adams formed his
philosophy on education through his belief in the idea that public funding support of "at
least one congregationalist 'teacher of religion and morality' per township" (Hutson, 11).
As history rolled on, the face of America changed. Waves of immigration,
expansion of American frontiers, and new leaders brought on changes for domestic
policy and government's role in society. The debate over religion in public education
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continued through time. Up until the early nineteenth century, public schools as we know
them today were non-existent. During the nineteenth century, "two developments served
to make the schools the setting for much of the controversy on church-state issues"
(Kliebard, 5). States undertook the responsibility of creating overreaching public school
systems, and the other factor increasing the controversy was the passage of the
Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The amendment effectively expanded the reach of the
Constitution's First Amendment to the states.
Horace Mann, secretary to the State Board of Education in Massachusetts during
the middle of the nineteenth century, was one of the driving forces of the development of
statewide public educational systems. Mann's efforts toward the establishment of a state
supported school system provided an offensive attack, nearly exclusively funded by the
state, against "poverty, crime, and social conflict," but was buttressed with his belief that
education was (is) a moral activity" (Kliebard, 6,7). Mann struggled with this belief as he
labored in forming a common system of schools without over-incorporating religious
dogma. To counter this problem, Mann opted to bring together similar elements of
numerous traditions, "creating in effect a common religion for the common school"
(Kliebard, 7).
Opposition to Mann's development of the common religion to be the source of
moral teaching first came from the influx of Catholic immigration. The main concern of
this group was not excessive funding for these public schools, however, it was the fact
that their beliefs were not as included in the combined doctrines and beliefs brought
together for the common religion. They argued over what texts were being read, not who
was paying for them. Unhappy with the material and extent of sectarian teachings in the
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public schools, "Roman Catholics and a few other religious denominations organized
programs of private religious education for their children" (Kliebard, 7). The opposition
to the establishment and increasing numbers of private schools was concerned with the
potential threat they posed to the public school system, similar to one side of today's
debate and the idea that the public schools were a source of Americanization. This
conflict initiated a period of judicial decisions depicting the legal relationship between
religion and education that would last into the new millennium.
Supreme Court Cases and the Establishment Clause
The right of the religious groups to establish private schools was secured in the
1925 Supreme Court decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus
and Mary (NCEA, 1 ). This decision declared it unconstitutional for states to force
children to "accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere
creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled
with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations" (NCEA, 1).
The decision decrees the importance of parental choice with regards to their own
children's upbringing, an important aspect in the contemporary debate.
The Pierce decision ignited the next era in the life of church-state relations, nearly
a century of Supreme Court decisions interpreting the establishment clause of the
Constitution's First Amendment indicating what is and what is not allowable regarding
the state's entanglement with private and parochial schools in the United States. The
next step in the journey was the Supreme Court's pivotal decision in Cochran v.
Louisiana State Board of Education (1930). This introduced the issue of the use of
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public funds for private parochial schools, which will be the focus of this paper. The
decision by the Court in Cochran "upheld a Louisiana statute that allowed expenditure of
public/state funds to purchase and supply nonsectarian textbooks to parochial school
students" (NCEA, 1). The initiation of this element into the existing church-state
controversy set the stage for a new field of debate concerning the establishment of
religion in public policy. This issue put the establishment clause of the First Amendment
to the interpretation of many Courts to come.
The Supreme Court's next case visiting the issue of public funding of private and
parochial schools came in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education. This case concerned a
New Jersey statute that allowed local school districts to contract for transportation to and
from school. The law "authorized reimbursement to parents of money expended by them
for the bus transportation of their children by the public transportation system" (Everson).
Some of the recipients of this monetary reimbursement were parents of children attending
Catholic private schools. These "church schools give their students, in addition to secular
education, regular religious instruction conforming to the religious tenets and modes of
worship of the Catholic Faith ... and the superintendent of these schools is a Catholic
priest" (Everson). The appellant in this case was a district taxpayer who argued that the
law violated not only the state Constitution, but also the Constitution of the United States,
specifically the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the New Jersey law allowing publicly funded
transportation for children to both public, private secular, and private parochial
institutions of education. Justice Hugo Black gave the opinion of the Court.
Interestingly, he began his opinion by outlining the historical reasons for the writing of
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the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, mentioning the "escape from the bondage of
laws which compelled them to support and attend government-favored churches" that our
ancestors made from the government of Great Britain (Everson). He went on to cite
some of the offenses against certain state-established churches in the new world, before
the First Amendment, that were punishable, including "failure to pay taxes and tithes to
support them ( established churches) (Everson). Further, he pointed out that the
leadership of Virginia's efforts to end persecution and set a barrier between church and
state. The beliefs included "that individual religious liberty could be achieved best under
a government which was stripped of all power to tax, to support, or otherwise assist any
or all religions" (Everson). Black then mentioned the importance of James Madison's
statements during the same time in Virginia saying: " . . . a true religion did not need the
support of law; that no person, either believer or non-believer, should be taxed to support
a religious institution of any kind" (Everson).
The problem for this Court, along with the state courts facing the same issue, was
to define the line between public funds being allocated for the general welfare of the
society versus the funds aiding a religion, or teachings of. In his brief personal
interpretation of the establishment clause, among other things, Black once again mentions
that, "Not tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious
activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt
to teach or practice religion" (Everson).
The core of Black's argument, however distant from the principles outlined in the
majority of the text in the opinion, was that this statute did not violate the establishment
clause of the First Amendment on the grounds that the tax-raised funds were part of a
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program that aided students attending public and private parochial schools. He
assimilated this with the public funding of police and fire-fighting services, saying that it
would be absurd to diminish these public services to those going to private or churchrelated
schools. He stated: "The State contributes no money to the schools. It does not
support them . . . but it provides a general program to help parents get their children safely
and expeditiously to and from accredited schools" (Everson). Black instituted a principle
of neutrality in his decision to uphold the New Jersey statute.
Predictably, the dissenting opinions w
The Religious Right Wing in America: An Analysis of Sources of Antipathy Towards the Right and the Relation of Rhetoric Used by the Right, with Special Attention to Media Coverage of Right Leaders
No full textThis paper will often refer to the views of the Right and the members of the Right as if they have monolithic beliefs and actions. I know that such generalizations are risky when trying to devise a sound argument. In fact, a major argument I make involves clearly defining what part of the Right and specifically what person is responsible for specific statements in order to steer clear of often-harmful generalizations. For the easy sake of generalizations the term Religious Right will refer to those that fall under the three categories listed above.The Religious Right Wing in America:
An Analysis of Sources of Antipathy Towards the Right and the Relation to Rhetoric
Used by the Right, with Special Attention to Media Coverage of Right Leaders
Thesis Project by:
Tom Hilden
Spring 2003
POL-325: Religion and Politics in America
Professor Christopher Gilbert
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I. Opening
One of the most notable political occurrences of the past thirty years or so has
been a substantial growth in conservative voters who place a primacy, and vote
accordingly, on traditional family values. This trend has often been labeled as a social
movement because of its size, goals and problems. The growth and change of this
movement has been well chronicled in the media. From its inception the media and the
Religious Right had a tenuous relationship, which has meant that the Religious Right has
been covered in a very negative light. It is the media's practice of placing all so-called
members of the Right into the same category that is of utmost importance to this author.
Prior to looking at the media's role and attempts to classify conservatives as members of
the Religious Right, a look at the Right and its leaders must be explored.
Before any real look into the Religious Right can be taken, we must first figure
out what exactly is meant by this term. Over the course of historical analysis of this
phenomenon there have been many labels given to this movement. It has been
represented by titles such as the New Right, Far Right, New Christian Right,
Conservative Right and Christian Right, among others. These multiple names all
generally refer to the same movement and the same people. For the remainder of this
paper I will refer to this movement as the Religious Right. The reason for this choice has
to do with the next part of initially understanding the Religious Right: its composition of
members.
Most academic papers concerning the Right start with some sort of description
about what types of people are involved in this movement. There are generally three
major ways to consider who is involved in the Religious Right movement. The first is by
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simple self-identification. Because of the open nature of inclusion into the Religious
Right, anyone who deems himself a member can be thought of as part of this group.
There are organizations that are often associated with the Right, but their membership is
by no means the best way to consider who comprises the Right (Fowler, 1999). Although
membership in groups such as Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition are very
good measures of those who compose the Right, they are not the only means.
A second major way to classify those who belong under the title of Religious
Right is by looking at a person's views on various social and moral issues. Many
different scholars have offered their view on the primary agenda tenets of the Right, but
for our sake it boils down to a shared belief that American culture has become jaded by
non-Christian values, and advances governmental means to rectify this serious situation.
Some political scientists have offered further explanations such as the culture wars thesis
or the unconventional partners thesis to describe the ways in which this movement came
about and where it gains it impetus, but this will do for our discussion (Fowler, 1999).
These theories may seem to be insightful on the surface, but as Clyde Wilcox
points out, the Right can be better seen through its belief system. ''The Christian Right
simply represents the views of people who believe that the American political and
cultural order often violates their values and want to change the situation" (Fowler,
1999). To best understand the unifying factor that pulls these people together, Wilcox
argues, one need only look "straightforwardly" at the Right' s views and describe the
entity itself as a "broad-based expression of the beliefs of its supporters" (Fowler, 1999).
Another, and generally the most often used, means of deciphering who makes up
the Religious Right is a person's faith tradition. Not surprisingly, a person's faith is a
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very strong determinant of their likely adherence to the Religious Right. The faiths that
are most often cited as comprising the Religious Right are primarily white members of
the evangelical, fundamentalist and Pentecostal sects of Protestantism (Fowler, 1999). In
recent years some authors have gone as far as to break evangelicals down into three main
parts with each having a symbolic leader (Nash, 1990). Ten years ago the evangelical
mainstream was best represented by Billy Graham, while the fundamentalism mainstream
was best seen in the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the third section of Pentecostalism was best
represented by the Rev. Pat Robertson (Nash, 1990). While Billy Graham has stepped
back from the evangelical spotlight, Falwell and Robertson still are active in the Right's
causes.
Also included many times are a relatively small number of Catholics who agree
with the Right's pro-life stance and an even smaller number of conservative Jews. The
inclusion of Jews into the Religious Right seems very peculiar to many with a sound
knowledge of religion's effect on politics. It is that quandary that I sought to better
understand by reading a book by Don Feder, a right-wing Jewish author, in his account
describing, "What in Heaven's Name is a Jewish Conservative?"
After reading only a few sentences of Don Feder' s Who's Afraid of the Religious
Right it becomes very clear that any side of the political spectrum can find, and use,
political and moral poll results to stake the claim that their ideals concerning today's hot
button moral issues are in line with a certain belief system. The chapter concerning
Jewish conservatives presented a historical lesson in the founding of the Jewish faith and
how the historical actions of Jews have been in line with the morality espoused by the
Religious Right. Feder acknowledges the major discrepancies between Jewish
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conservative leaders and other Protestant right wingers, but also claims that in essence
there are many similarities with what the Right has come to focus on, specifically
morality (Feder, 1996). This is yet another example of how seemingly tough it is to
define exactly who falls under the category of the Religious Right. It is also with this
knowledge that I came to the conclusion that labeling this movement the Christian Right
is not inclusive enough for a truly religious movement.
This paper will often refer to the views of the Right and the members of the Right
as if they have monolithic beliefs and actions. I know that such generalizations are risky
when trying to devise a sound argument. In fact, a major argument I make involves
clearly defining what part of the Right and specifically what person is responsible for
specific statements in order to steer clear of often-harmful generalizations. For the easy
sake of generalizations the term Religious Right will refer to those that fall under the
three categories listed above.
II. Religious Right Antipathy
Along with the growing trend of conservative activism among the Religious
Right, primarily through the Republican Party, is a similar trend in the growing dislike of
this faction of Americans. Much has been written not only about the key demographic
support of the ideals most closely associated with the Right, but also those who oppose
what the Right stands for and looks to change. In a recent survey concerning attitudes
towards the Christian Coalition, the Right's most often cited representative body, and the
Religious Right in general, many telling statistics come to light.
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Out of all those who were surveyed only 25% answered that they supported the
Religious Right (Kohut et al, 2000). Not surprisingly the highest levels of support came
from committed evangelical Protestants (48%), committed mainline Protestants (48%)
and other evangelical Protestants (36%) (Kohut et al, 2000). This is consistent with the ..
previous description of what faith traditions were generally included in the umbrella term
of Religious Right. One noteworthy feature of this survey, though, is the limited number
of respondents that considered themselves "members" of the Religious Right. Out of
those surveyed only 7% labeled themselves as members of the Religious Right (Kohut, et
al, 2000). This points out that while people say they share most values of the Christian
Coalition (25%) they are still leery to classify themselves as a member of the Right
(Kohut et al, 2000). This also points out another feature of the Right: people's growing
uneasiness to be associated with the movement.
Louis Boice and Gerald De Maio sought to find out what part of the population
was holding these anti-Right views in a 1999 study concerning antipathy (their term)
towards religious fundamentalists. First they defined what they felt a religious
fundamentalist was. They used the operational definition of fundamentalists as those who
have "membership in an evangelical denomination and belief that the Bible is the
infallible Word of God" (Boice and De Maio, 1999). These characteristics do not fit all of
the groups that I have listed as commonly associated with the Right, but they cover
enough of them to render their study useful in this discussion.
The study utilized 1988-96 American National Election study data and found that
respondents had strong negative feelings towards Christian fundamentalists. "Roughly
1/5 of respondents expressed intensely hostile feelings toward fundamentalists, that is
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they rated members of this religious group no higher than they rated illegal aliens" (Bolce
and De Maio, 1999). In comparison to respondents' feelings towards other religious
groups, Christian fundamentalists fared far worse than Catholics and Jews (Bolce and De
Maio, 1999). In fact, "three times as many respondents strongly dislike Christian
fundamentalists as generally dislike either Catholics or Jews" (Bolce and De Maio,
1999). These are startling facts and no doubt have great social and political implications
for the future of the Religious Right.
Usually when a particular group is seen in a negative light, it is the highly
educated elite that sticks up for them. This has historically been the case with anti-Jewish
and anti-black prejudices (Bolce and De Maio, 1999). Usually the higher the one's level
of education the more likely one is to be less prejudiced, but this is not the case with
religious fundamentalism (Bolce and De Maio, 1999). In their study Bolce and De Maio
found that 37% of highly educated respondents who did not deem themselves
fundamentalists held very negative feelings towards fundamentalists (1999). One major
question comes to mind about these statistics. Where does all of this opposition and
hostility come from?
III. Possible Sources of Antipathy
Antipathy or otherwise unkind feelings for the Right may spring from its troubled
past of being linked with feelings of anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism. When
constructing his argument for limiting the religious influence in government, Ted Jelen
mentions that there have always been interdenominational fights among Protestants and
Catholics and this has led to only limited changes.
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Recent evidence suggests that Catholics have been slow to mobilize into the
Christian Right. Catholics remain among the most Democratic of white
Christians, and white Catholic Republicans have not shifted based on their
position on moral or lifestyle issues (Jelen in Segers & Jelen, 1998, 22).
The Right has also been associated with a general feeling of anti-Jewish beliefs. This
accusation caused me to take a look into why this argument has been often leveled
against the Right. What historical factors lead historians and political scientists to claim
that the Right has an anti-Semitic tone?
I wanted to figure out if people belonging to the Right just happened to be racist
or if there was something inherently anti-Semitic fixed to opinions of those in the Right. I
found an old, but pointed study that asked, Do Christian Beliefs Cause Anti-Semitism?
(Middleton, 1973). There are limitations to this study because it does not focus on
members of the Right specifically, but it does focus its research on "predominately white
Christian church congregations," which is a major source of Right support. This study at
least provides a starting place to look further into this idea.
Middleton chose to look at the statistics of a previous study by Glock and Stark,
which figured that "no less than one-fourth of American anti-Semitism is attached to
religious sources" (Middleton, 1973). This finding would wholly support those that
connect Right membership with racist beliefs. Fortunately, Middleton found that Glock
and Stark's result was based upon some bad research and statistical analysis. After
figuring in other variables he found that "the religious variables account for no more than
about 2 percent of the variance in anti-Semitism" (Middleton, 1973). This led Middleton
to conclude that the link between white Christian beliefs and anti-Semitism is at best "not
proved" (Middleton, 1973).
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This study is 30 years old and the Right has grown immensely since the time that
the data for these results were taken, but it does offers evidence for two telling
conclusions. One, people have been linking Christian beliefs with anti-Semitism for
decades. The Middleton study recounts many prior studies dating back to the 1940's that
look at this possible connection. Two, it points out that these theories are not as provable
as they seem to be. This means that there have to be other reasons for the general public
having such negative feelings towards the Right.
It is hard to argue that people of any faith use their morals as a guiding force
when making political decisions. Many books on this issue have documented how
people's religious faiths have affected their views of diverse political topics (Kohut et al
2000). Despite this evidence, some scholars have pointed out that this connection
between faith and politics, although very forceful, may actually be inappropriate in many
American's eyes.
It seems clear that the major [American] cultural value that inhibits general social
condemnation of abortion, extramarital sex, or homosexuality is the value placed
on Lockean individualism. For many Americans, issues of personal morality
occupy a nearly sovereign 'private sphere,' within which they think government
intervention is illegitimate (Jelen in Segers & Jelen, 1998, 27).
Maybe it is this American belief in personal freedom of moral issues that causes people
to quickly dismiss anything the Right has to say. The often-divisive rhetoric of some
Right leaders may cause people to feel that all people of the Right want to tell others how
to live their lives. The moral framework of the Right pits it against the individualism that
Jelen proposes, which creates another area that people may strongly disagree with the
Right and therefore create a source of opposition.
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In previously looking at the basics of the Religious Right movement an effort was
made to give a cursory description of who is involved with the Religious Right and what
they ultimately try to do. Along with its escalating prominence in the Republican Party,
the Right has faced growing hostility from those outside its ranks. Since equality and
freedom of political beliefs are ideals that have been part of America's conscience since
its founding, even if not always practiced, what are the sources of this growing animosity
towards one group's political views?
One foe of the Religious Right, fairly soon after its step into the limelight of
American politics, has been the media. This battle has been waged on many fronts and
involved many players along the way. The media has been particularly vicious when
dealing with scandals involving Religious Right leaders and those whose religious beliefs
are associated with the typical Right follower. A major source of media ridicule in the
1980's revolved around the problems with televangelists whether or not they were
associated with the Religious Right (Smith, 1992). The media coverage of financial and
sexual misdeeds among televangelists became almost common in the late 1980' s.
A collection of surveys was studied to see the impact that these scandals or, for
our purpose, the coverage of these scandals had on respondents' views towards religion
and religious leaders. The study found that the scandals of the late 1980's made the
respondents' trustworthiness of televangelists drop by nearly 50 percent from 1980 to
1987 (Smith, 1992). Also showing the impact of media coverage of these events is a onethird
drop in respondents "with a 'great deal' of confidence in the leaders of 'organized
religion
"'
(Smith, 1992). Despite the fact that the scandals were focused on only a
handful of people, their impact on American's trust in not only televangelists, but other
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religious leaders too, is very significant. The media has a job to report the news and these
scandals were worthy of the attention that they received, but the fact that the public was
less trusting of all religious leaders shows the fervor with which the media attacked these
so-called religious leaders. It was a black eye for the Right that has still not been totally
healed.
The 1980's were not the only time that leaders of the Right were susceptible to
sharp media criticism. The Rev. Jerry Falwell has come under great media fire for some
statements he made regarding the atrocities of September 11th
• While on "The 700 Club,"
a Christian television show hosted by fellow Right leader Pat Robertson, Falwell
espoused his views on the causes of 9/11:
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists and the feminists and
the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an
alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them
who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and
say "you helped this happen." (Falwell Apologizes, 2001).
This obviously enraged members of various groups that were indicated as being part of
one of the worst events in American history. Falwell promptly amended his statement and
apologized for his remarks and stated that the terrorists and hijackers were the only ones
that were truly to blame (Falwell Apologizes, 2001).
Falwell got into trouble about a year later again on the topic of terrorism. While
speaking with CBS correspondent Chris Simon, Falwell called the Islamic leader
Mohammed a "terrorist" (60 Minutes, 2002). Announcing swiftly, "I think Mohammed
was a terrorist," Falwell set off another outcry from folks claiming that he was up to his
racial and religious insensitivity again (60 Minutes, 2002).
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This would not be as big of a problem if Falwell only spoke for himself and
therefore only brought ridicule and hostility towards himself. As a leader and one of the
most widely recognized and most active people under the Religious Right banner,
Falwell sees his role as spokesmen for all of those in the Right. Falwell claims that "there
are 70 million of us" and he feels that he has the right to speak for all of these folks (@
Minutes, 2002). This presents a clear problem with relation to the media and to people
whose views may agree with the goals of the Right. By publicly espousing the belief that
Falwell speaks for all members of the Right, he is virtually asking for the media to
stereotype the rest of the supporters even though they may be completely different
ideologically, but still have the fundamental agreement that the government should
support a more moral agenda.
The mixing of conservative religion with politics can work the other way too.
Instead of taking a noted religious figure's remarks and showing how they are
inconsistent with prevailing American political views, there have also been recent times
where the media has taken a political figure and insinuated that their religion played a
part in their socially unacceptable beliefs.
A local example of this revolves around the absolutely ludicrous and, frankly,
scary comments that Minnesota State Representative Arion Lindner (R-Corcoran) has
made. Lindner' s comments on the Minnesota House floor concerning minority groups
including gays, African American and Jews have caused heated criticisms and outrage
from groups of all perspectives (deFiebre, 2003). Upon reading several articles
concerning Lindner' s statements and the discussion that subsequently followed, it was
interesting what a writer added at the end of one of the articles. "Lindner, a transplanted
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Texan who has a Baptist seminary degree, spent much of his day defending his views"
(deFiebre, 2003). Why did the author decide to give the former home state and religious
affiliation of the legislator?
When legislators are given an award or acclaim for exemplary action, their
religious beliefs are not given alongsid
Multilateral U.S. Military Operations in the Post-Cold War Era: A Tool for American Strategic Interests
No full textIn drawing generalizations from previous post-Cold War military operations, and using them to predict the multilateral nature of a future conflict in Iraq, several assumptions must be made. Initially, a note should be made about the selection of the cases themselves. Cases were selected as large-scale, direct, and forceful U.S. military actions that were not purely unilateral because it is likely that these characteristics will also illustrate a future conflict in Iraq. Thus, Haiti was excluded because it was too small and Panama because it was purely unilateral. Operations aimed directly at peacekeeping or providing aid, i.e. Somalia, were also excluded, as the interests the U.S. has now in Iraq are not compatible with operations purely of this sort.
This study draws case studies from the Republican George H.W. Bush administration (1988-1992), the Democratic William Jefferson Clinton administration (1992-2000), and the Republican George W. Bush administration (2001-present). Although the challenges to U.S. foreign policy have changed throughout these administrations, this study notes that the three post-Cold War administrations have held a common approach in decisions regarding the use of uni-, bi-, and multilateralism. All executives consider the degree of responsiveness, decisiveness, costs, legal and international acceptability, coalition-building value, the threat the conflict presents to homeland security, and effects on U.S. command and control needs needed in a direct military operation and to advance U.S. interests (see Table 1). Ultimately, this study will draw generalizations from past post-Cold War administrations and apply them to the impending conflict in Iraq.Multilateral U.S. Military Operations in the
Post-Cold War Era
A Tool for American Strategic Interests
Anne Mariel Peters
Department of Political Science
Gustavus Adolphus College
December 18, 2002
42 Gustavus Student Repository
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................ 1
Assumptions of This Study .......................................................... 6
Iraq: 1990-1991 ........................................................................ 9
The Balkan Conflict as a Coalition-Builder. ..................................... 20
Operation Enduring Freedom and the War on Terrorism ...................... 24
Lessons Learned ..................................................................... 28
Iraq: 2001-2002 ...................................................................... 30
Table 1 ................................................................................ .37
Works Cited .......................................................................... 39
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INTRODUCTION
More than ten years after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the United States
finds itself on the fringes of a confrontation with Iraq only one year subsequent to
inducing a regime change in Afghanistan. The U.S. has justified its leadership against
Afghanistan and Iraq under the umbrella of the "War on Terrorism," but it is clear that a
large portion of the international community would prefer wide multilateral measures, if
any, in a future confrontation with Iraq. In the wake of September 11, as the U.S.
government struggles to make its citizens feel safe from terrorism, other sovereign
nations are searching for safety in the post-Cold War Era, where the U.S. is the only
superpower. While the end of the Cold War reduced the possibility of a superpower
altercation inducing global nuclear war, it also created a decidedly more inconsistent
global security environment and unleashed a number of destabilizing factors that had
previously been checked in the grand scheme of the East-West conflict. As a result,
creating wide multilateral policies in today's world is considerably difficult, although
multilateralism is now essential to regional conflict management by great powers
(Goldstein 515). A purely unilateral operation, in which the U.S. acts alone, is not a
viable option, particularly in such volatile and internationally important regions such as
the Middle East, but trends in past post-Cold War military operations provide some
foresight into the degree of multilateral character a future U.S. operation in Iraq might
have.
The type of multilateralism that the U.S. will pursue in a future conflict with Iraq
could possibly be predicted from trends patterned from previous cases in post-Cold War,
large-scale, American military intervention. This study examines eight factors that have
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affected the degree of multilateralism used in six major post-Cold War direct military
operations (see Table I):
I. Decisiveness. Is there a visible end to the operation that accomplishes a
specific goal?
2. Responsiveness. How quickly can the U.S. act following provocation?
3. Total incremental cost of the operation, including military force, aid,
peacekeeping and reconstruction for all that apply.
4. Legal/ international acceptability. Does the action have wide international
approval, as exemplified by, i.e., authorization by the U.N. Security Council?
5. Coalition-building value. Will alliances developed throughout the course of
the operation be longstanding and useful for future operations?
6. Effect on U.S. command and control needs. Will U.S. forces and influence
expand into regions previously inaccessible to them?
7. Degree of threat to U.S. homeland security.
8. Regional volatility.
This study divides multilateralism into four different categories, listed below from lowest
to highest degree of multilateral character, and maps trends in relationships between the
above factors and the type of multilateralism used in each operation. For example, how
did these factors influence a decision to act through NATO in the Balkan crises rather
than through some other means, such as a European or U.S.-led ad hoc coalition? Note:
these relationships are not quantified, but are the products of a preliminary investigation.
I. Separate bilateral agreements between the U.S. and key strategic allies, such
as the defense cooperative agreements between the U.S. and several Gulf
states. This method improves responsiveness and builds long-term alliances
by allowing the U.S. to negotiate on a separate basis with each signatory.
These agreements are usually not oriented towards specific ends from the
outset, but are aimed at expanding the U.S. sphere of command and control in
strategic areas.
2. Small, U.S. led coalitions, such as the U.S.-led Operation Northern Watch.
This method is also quite responsive and fosters alliances aimed at a specific
goal. Coalitions explicitly authorized under the U.N. Security Council are
more credible than implicit ones, or those without authorization.
3. Narrow multilateral organizations, specifically NATO, whose members are
regionally and ideologically similar. NATO has less credibility than the U.N.,
which embraces a broad spectrum of nations and ideologies, and is an
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excellent coalition-builder. Costs of an operation are diffused amongst
members.
4. Wide multilateral organizations, specifically the U.N., whose members are
diverse in terms of ideology and geography. Costs of the operation for the
U.S. are very minimal due to resources and funds donated by other U.N.
members.
In all degrees of multilateralism, consideration of present and past military
operations as alliance-builders plays a key role in terms of thinking about resources and
success of future operations. In past post-Cold War direct military operations, the U.S.
has aimed for the highest possible degree of multilateralism that would have allowed it to
achieve its case-specific goals set for the eight factors mentioned above. The U.S. does
this because it seeks maximum credibility under international law in order to detract from
perception of U.S. hegemony, and support to foster alliances that are useful in terms of
expanding the region of U.S. command and control.
These trends, examined in further detail throughout this paper, provide some
foresight on the degree of multilateral character that could be utilized in a future conflict
with Iraq. If the U.S. cooperates with the U.N., as it did in the Gulf War, it will possibly
dilute its control over the fate of Iraq in exchange for international credibility and soft
power, strengthening international alliances. If a military operation occurs, the region of
U.S. command and control will be enlarged, and new defense partnerships useful in the
present and future may emerge. An Iraqi regime change, in addition to the 2001 regime
change in Afghanistan, would require sustained, careful involvement, particularly in such
an unstable, complex region; a multilateral operation ensures that U.S. forces are not
spread too thin, and, should something go wrong, that the U.S. will not be held solely
responsible. It reduces the U.S. share of total incremental costs. In a collaborative world,
where multilateral agreements across all areas have proven to be beneficial to the U.S.,
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this route will ultimately be the most advantageous to U.S. national interests because it
will build U.S. credibility and trust from the international community. This is valuable to
future agreements, whether they are military or nonmilitary in nature. Additionally, if the
U.S. finds U.N. actions unsatisfactory, there is an escape: the parameters of U.N.
authorizations are often so hazy that the U.S. could exploit caveats in international law
should it decide to invade Iraq in the future with a coalition of U.S. partners (be these
NATO members or those tied into separate U.S. defense bilaterals). This invasion, then,
would be at least partially supported by international law, detracting from the hegemonic
appearance of the U.S., as was done in Operation Desert Fox in 1 998. This route,
however, is contingent on the fact that the U.S. intelligence community does not perceive
Iraqi WMD as an immediate threat.
If WMD in Iraq do present an immediate threat to U.S. national security, the U.S.
will undoubtedly employ direct military force against Iraq in the near future, sacrificing
the benefits of wide multilateralism for a higher degree of responsiveness. In this case,
longstanding U.S. allies in NATO and strategic Arab nations in need of U.S. support will
cooperate in an operation against Iraq via separate bilateral agreements with the United
States. Utilizing separate bilaterals and/or coalitions for strategic purposes could project
the appearance of multilateralism and therefore buffer some, but not all, criticism from
the international community.
The most important military support in terms of a large-scale, U.S.-led operation
in Iraq would come from Western Europe, Australia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Arab
nations with a history of friendly military relations with the United States. Military
support from these nations against Iraq could either be delivered under the guise of the
4 Gustavus Student Repository
United Nations, or through separate, non-U.N., bi- or multilateral agreements with the
United States. However, the United States and its allies have their respective national
interests to consider when it comes to the decision to employ or not to employ military
force, and the nature of past post-Cold War direct military operations has patterned
visible trends in the defense policies of the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. has sustained
large-scale direct military intervention in two primary regions in the post-Cold War Era:
the Balkans and the Middle East. The Balkans remain of chief interest to the U.S., Russia,
and Western Europe, whereas the latter region interests all of the allies mentioned above
(and some more, such as oil-producing Mexico).
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ASSUMPTIONS OF THIS STUDY
In drawing generalizations from previous post-Cold War military operations, and
using them to predict the multilateral nature of a future conflict in Iraq, several
assumptions must be made. Initially, a note should be made about the selection of the
cases themselves. Cases were selected as large-scale, direct, and forceful U.S. military
actions that were not purely unilateral because it is likely that these characteristics will
also illustrate a future conflict in Iraq. Thus, Haiti was excluded because it was too small
and Panama because it was purely unilateral. Operations aimed directly at peacekeeping
or providing aid, i.e. Somalia, were also excluded, as the interests the U.S. has now in
Iraq are not compatible with operations purely of this sort.
This study draws case studies from the Republican George H.W. Bush
administration (1988-1992), the Democratic William Jefferson Clinton administration
(1992-2000), and the Republican George W. Bush administration (2001-present).
Although the challenges to U.S. foreign policy have changed throughout these
administrations, this study notes that the three post-Cold War administrations have held a
common approach in decisions regarding the use of uni-, bi-, and multilateralism. All
executives consider the degree of responsiveness, decisiveness, costs, legal and
international acceptability, coalition-building value, the threat the conflict presents to
homeland security, and effects on U.S. command and control needs needed in a direct
military operation and to advance U.S. interests (see Table 1). Ultimately, this study will
draw generalizations from past post-Cold War administrations and apply them to the
impending conflict in Iraq.
6 Gustavus Student Repository
It is also assumed that efforts to build multilateral coalitions and to support
international bodies that will benefit the U.S. will not be turned over with the
inauguration of a new executive; bilateral and multilateral treaties transcend
administrative change. In the post-Cold War Era, all executive administrations prior to
that of George W. Bush have set a precedent for the construction of successful
multilateral or bilateral agreements, such as the WTO, NAFI'A, science and technology
bilaterals, defense cooperative agreements, etc. The U.S. has established a paradigm of
post-Cold War global progress through military, economic, scientific, and diplomatic
agreements with a wide variety of nations, from G-8 to G-77; this progress will not be
overturned by a simple change in the executive. U.S. presidential administrations
understand the value of global cooperation in terms of acquiring soft and hard power,
thus protecting the U.S. national interest, whose components remain relatively consistent
over time: trade, security, balance of power, and regional stability in favor of the United
States. This is reflected in the 2002 national security doctrine released by the White
House; it recognizes the fact that the U.S. has unmatched world power and therefore must
"shape the international order" (Diehl 1 ). The goal is to maintain regional power balances
in favor of the U.S., while simultaneously encouraging development, democracy, and free
markets abroad (Diehl 1). These objectives have remained relatively constant in the postCold
War Era.
In addition, one must consider the idea that the post-Cold War Era ended the
moment American Airlines Flight 1 1 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at
8:45 a.m. EDT on September 1 1 , 2001. One of the United States' primary nemeses today,
al-Qaeda, is not a rational actor, whereas the actors involved in the cases from which this
7 Gustavus Student Repository
paper generalizes were rational nation-states. How, then, can generalized trends in postCold
War U.S. military actions be used to predict the nature of U.S. defense policy in this
new era? Although this new era will eventually develop its own character, we can still
assume that the components of the U.S. national interest remain constant, and that,
regardless of the characteristics of our enemies, international support will always be
crucial to guarding those interests. Thus, at this point, the U.S. will still continue to rely
upon lessons and precedents in bi- and multilateralism from the post-Cold War era as it
shapes its policy for the future.
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IRAQ: 1990-1991
Figure 1. Map of Iraqi No-Fly Zones ("Iraq Map")
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new security environment emerged
worldwide; these new conditions were particularly prevalent in the Middle East, a region
that had previously been treated as a microcosm of the Cold War. Soviet allies such as
Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Palestinian factions were left dangling, and the Arab
rejectionist front opposing peace with Israel was left without a foothold (Shlaim 104). As
Oxford Professor Avi Shlaim writes, "Without Soviet arms and diplomatic backing, Arab
radicals ould do little except sulk in their tents" (Shlaim 105). Without Soviet support
aimed at countering U.S. presence in the Middle East, some Arab states would have to
seek out the resources previously given to them by the Soviets to guard their own
national securities; they could join the United States in exchange for American support
against hostile nations in the region (i.e. Iraq), or they could seek them out through other
means.
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Since the early 1980s, the U.S. had previously balanced power in the region by
aggravating tensions between Iran and Iraq, preoccupying and ultimately draining them
of resources, while maintaining an Israeli stronghold. In 1 990, it found itself in need of a
new policy, exemplified by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait (Hajjar 8). When Iraq
invaded Kuwait, the elder Bush Administration took advantage of the new post-Cold War
security environment and internationally unwelcomed Iraqi aggression to gain broad
multilateral consensus for direct use of military force ("Threats" 1 ). Due to the lack of an
opposing superpower, the U.S. could become dominant in the region by extracting
Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and repelling him from Saudi Arabia, achieving several
secondary goals:
1 . Rallying Arab states newly free from Soviet influence, such as Egypt and Syria,
behind it; aligning behind the U.S. had increasing appeal, and the U.S. would
need these strategic bilateral alliances to extend its sphere of influence in the
region.
2. Securing oil.
3. Providing the U.S. with the momentum to facilitate the Arab-Israeli peace
process.
4. Increasing the credibility of U.S. actions under international law by acting
through the U.N.
Wide military multilateralism such as that used in Operation Desert Storm, which
received pledges of cooperation from nearly forty nations, proved useful in restoring the
regional balance of power and securing resources valuable to U.S. interests while also
appealing to the international community. It was fortunate that U.S. interests also
happened to coincide with the principles of U.N. collective security at the time; not only
did U.N. backing legitimize Desert Storm and precipitate new alliances, but it also
provided a broad umbrella of ambiguous resolutions under which U.S. involvement could
be sustained in Iraq for years to come. Although the U.S. led-coalition was U.N. Security
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Council-authorized, it is debatable whether the perception of the U.S. after Desert Storm
was that of a superpower which had dutifully consulted the international community, or
that of a unilateral hegernon with awesome technological and military power (Cleveland
481).
Alliances forged at the conclusion of the Cold War assisted in Operation Desert
Storm, and several helped enforce American endeavors of dual containment of Iran and
Iraq, via sanctioning and military patrol, throughout the Clinton Administration (although
most Arab nations did so covertly). Allies in the region have either collaborated with U.S.
forces or have acted as strategic states to which U.S. military support can flow,
maintaining U.S. military influence in the Middle East. The role of these allies grew more
important to the U.S. during the Clinton presidency because enforcing dual containment
and U.N. sanctions on Iraq required more U.S. military presence, and therefore more
landing rights and prepositioned military assets. The total incremental cost of Operation
Desert Storm is estimated at 61 billion dollars for deployment, construction, and
operations. Of this amount, other coalition members offset 54 billion dollars: Gulf allies
contributed 36 billion, while Germany and Japan contributed eight billion. These
payments were received in the form of financial assets and services (i.e. sealift and
airlift). Overall, the Gulf War cost the U.S. a mere seven billion dollars ("How Much").
Due to their strategic locations and strong operational support, Middle Eastern
allies had a large effect on U.S. foreign policy and the extent of U.S.-led military
operations during the Gulf War. Although U.S. public opinion supported the removal of
Saddam Hussein, it was determined that Hussein's removal would not be in favor of
long-term U.S. interests (Boren 149). The U.S., the U.N., and U.S. coalition partners had
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endorsed measures to remove Hussein from Kuwait, not from power, and the U.S. knew
it would sacrifice many of its allies were it to send ground troops into Baghdad to depose
the Iraqi leader. A plan for Iraq after Hussein would have been removed did not exist:
would the U.S. conquer the rest of the country and install a puppet regime, resulting in
extreme anti-U.S. backlash from the Islamic community? Would it allow Iraq to split in
two, with a northern Kurdistan and a southern Shia state? The Middle East would have
been thrown into turmoil and many new allies would have been lost (Boren 150). Instead,
the U.S.