STRATEGIC ACTION FIELDS AND THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: HOW DISABILITY RIGHTS BECAME PART OF THE POLICY AGENDA

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, disability rights found a place on the U.S. policy agenda. However, it did not do so because social movement groups pressured political elites or because politicians were responding to changes in public preferences. Drawing from recent work in neo- institutionalism and social movements, namely the theory of strategic action fields, I posit that exogenous shocks in the 1960s caused a disability policy monopoly to collapse giving way to a new policy community. Using original longitudinal data on congressional commit- tees, hearings, bills, and laws, as well as data from the Policy Agendas Project, I demonstrate the ways in which entrepreneurs pursued a new policy image of rights within a context of increasing committee involvement, issue complexity, and space on the policy agenda, and the consequences this had on policy

Migration and ethnic nationalism: Anglophone exit and the ‘decolonisation’ of Québec

This article explains the effects of ethnic nationalism on Anglophone and Francophone migration. The rise of Québec ethnic nationalism in the 1960s dismantled the cultural division of labour, which created new opportunities for Francophones but threatened Anglophones' traditional dominance over the Québec economy. This had negative consequences for Anglophones but positive outcomes for Francophones, which in turn accounts for differences in migration patterns. Drawing from the internal colony model as well as migration and exit-voice theories, and using ecological census data, micro-census data and election panel data, I find that the key variables that increase the likelihood of Anglophone out-migration either do not explain Francophone out-migration or have opposite effects. This is because ethnonationalist policies decreased the economic return particularly for well-educated, higher-earning, professional Anglophones in Québec, while increasing the economic position of Francophones and in particular well-educated professionals

An unequal labor market means that Covid-19 has been especially harmful for vulnerable groups including people with disabilities

Employment across the world has taken a huge hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Michelle Maroto and David Pettinicchio write that existing inequalities in earnings and employment mean that individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable groups have been especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Relational Inequality and the Structures that Disadvantage

This chapter reviews the different dimensions of disadvantage associated with disability while emphasizing the social structures that create and maintain such disadvantages. We review quantitative research demonstrating disadvantage in education, employment, income, wealth, and economic security, while noting the drawbacks of deficit accounts that fail to consider the structural dimensions of inequality. Drawing on relational inequality theory, we discuss how ableism, as an institution, supports the unequal distribution of status, resources, and opportunities around disability. We then provide examples of how ableism leads to disparities in higher education, employment, and wealth among people with disabilities, while also emphasizing potential paths for change within these organizations

Immigrant Political Participation in Europe: Comparing Different Forms of Political Action Across Groups

This paper compares participation in different forms of political action between natives,immigrants and non-citizen immigrants using data from thirteen European countries across six waves of the European Social Survey. The authors highlight problems associated with previous categorizations of political action, and find that when political action is disaggregated and relative participation between groups is examined, that immigrants’ patterns of participation are not substantially different from those of natives. When comparing citizen immigrants to non-citizen immigrants, previous research has suggested that citizenship acts as a “ticket” to non-institutional, unconventional, confrontational forms of political action. The authors’ findings instead suggest a more complicated relationship between immigrant/citizenship status and preferences for political action since citizenship may facilitate participation in both so-called institutional and extra-institutional activities depending on the context of action

Public and Elite Policy Preferences: Gay Marriage in Canada

This paper explores the role of parties, interest groups and public opinion in the enactment of ‘controversial’ social policy particularly when the issue is salient with political elites, but not salient with the public. The author analyses party documents, interest group testimony, media statements and public opinion data. He finds that political elites in Canada facilitated the legalisation of gay marriage while anti-gay marriage politicians and interest groups were unable to reframe gay marriage so as to benefit their cause. While political elites engaged in an ongoing discourse, Canadians remained divided on same-sex marriage but also uninterested in the issue. This paper also discusses the key differences surrounding the legalization of same-sex marriage between the United States and Canada.Dans cet article, l’auteur examine le rôle que jouent les partis politiques, les groupes d’intérêt et l’opinion publique dans la promulgation d’une politique sociale « controversée », en particulier lorsque le sujet est important pour les élites politiques, mais ne l’est pas pour le public. Il analyse des documents de différents partis, des témoignages de groupes d’intérêts, des déclarations aux médias et des données sur l’opinion publique. Il constate que les élites politiques du Canada ont facilité la légalisation du mariage entre personnes du même sexe, tandis que les politiciens et les groupes d’intérêts opposés au mariage gay ont été incapables de replacer ce type de mariage dans une nouvelle perspective, de façon à faire avancer leur cause. Les élites politiques sont engagées dans un discours continu; toutefois, la population canadienne non seulement demeure divisée sur la question du mariage gay, mais ne s’y intéresse pas vraiment. Le présent article contient également une analyse des principales différences entre les mesures législatives adoptées par les États-Unis et par le Canada sur le mariage entre personnes du même sexe

Civil rights laws alone aren’t going to help disabled people in a post-COVID America

Thirty years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed by Congress with the aim of addressing the persistent social and economic marginalization of disabled Americans. But, writes David Pettinicchio, weak enforcement and narrow interpretations of the ADA have since limited its effectiveness. He argues that the ADA was only the beginning: now we must extend its values across all social policy arena

From the Government to the Streets: Why the U.S. is a Policy Innovator in Disability Rights

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2012When it comes to disability rights, the U.S. is a policy innovator rather than a policy laggard. Understanding why the U.S. was ahead in disability rights involves addressing the link between institutional activism and grassroots mobilization and between supply- side and demand-side explanations for sociopolitical change. I expand on the concept of political entrepreneurship and institutional activism to shed light on the relationship between nonprofit advocacy organizations, the use of direct-action tactics, and political institutions. An important theme in my dissertation is the way in which governments invite rebellion by providing rights through legislative action, and consequently, politicize new constituencies that then mobilize around those rights. Rather than assuming that social movements can only influence policy, I find that the non-recursive relationship between social movement activity and legislative outcomes fluctuates over time. I use original longitudinal organizational data on over 800 nonprofit organizations, protest event data from four newspapers, congressional testimony based on 1275 hearings, and data on the over 300 disability-related public laws passed by Congress across a 45-year period (1961-2006). I draw from a growing body of work in sociology and political science that explains the dynamic interplay between elite insiders and outside challengers

Twenty-Five Years After the ADA: Situating Disability in America’s System of Stratification

Americans with disabilities represent a significant proportion of the population. Despite their numbers and the economic hardships they face, disability is often excluded from general sociological studies of stratification and inequality. To address some of these omissions, this paper focuses on employment and earnings inequality by disability status in the United States since the enactment of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a policy that affects many Americans. After using Current Population Survey data from 1988-2014 to describe these continuing disparities, we review research that incorporates multiple theories to explain continuing gaps in employment and earnings by disability status. In addition to theories pointing to the so-called failures of the ADA, explanations also include general criticisms of the capitalist system and economic downturns, dependence on social welfare and disability benefits, the nature of work, and employer attitudes. We conclude with a call for additional research on disability and discrimination that helps to better situate disability within the American stratification system.