The Politics of Alcoholism: Building an Arena Around a Social Problem

Description

The Politics of Alcoholism can be read on one level as a fascinating history of the evolving politics of what this country is doing about “the problem of alcoholism.” Not so long ago that problem was scarcely larger than a human hand against the horizon, but now it makes good, regular newspaper copy. This text follows through on the much-raised question of how a social problem becomes defined as a large scale problem, when the same phenomenon x Preface now labeled as “a problem” was not so named before. What is offered here is a direct attack on the rise into public visibility of something previously the concern of a relatively small number of people and groups, and which gets defined along the way as a problem for the whole nation. The second issue addressed is closer to the political scientist’s traditional interest, namely the politics of handling public issues: research and theorizing here usually focus on interest groups, lobbying, public debate, legislative rights, constituencies, and so on. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Dedication Preface Acknowledgments PART I: INTRODUCTION AND APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Stance PART II: ANIMATING THE PROBLEM 3. Establishing Turf Rights 4. Developing Constituencies 5. Funneling Advice and Imparting Skills and Information PART III: LEGITIMIZING THE PROBLEM 6. Borrowing Prestige and Expertise 7. Redefining the Problem 8. Building Respectability 9. Maintaining a Separate Identity PART IV: DEMONSTRATING THE PROBLEM 10. Competing for Attention and Combining for Strength 11. Selecting Supportive Data 12. Convincing Opposing Ideologists 13. Enlarging the Bounds of Responsibility 14. Summary and Implications Appendix A: Method Appendix B: Classification of Sources of Data Appendix C: Glossary of Acronyms Bibliography Index