ABSTRACT
Social welfare concerns have ranked “near the top of [Ronald Reagan’s] agenda,” observes Urban Institute president William Gorham, and it plainly is so. During the campaign, Reagan frequently articulated his belief that government had come to play an intrusive, overbearing role in society. The policymaking significance of the social images of different social welfare problem populations has been evident from the very outset of the present administration. Commencing with his first proposals to Congress for cuts in domestic spending, the president has repeatedly affirmed his intention to persevere with those social welfare programs that “continue to fulfill the obligations that spring from our national conscience.” Social Security Disability Insurance presents another instance of this pattern of cutbacks followed by a chorus of recriminations about hurting the truly needy leading to a fundamental reevaluation of policy objectives and methods. The outcome in this case was a turnabout in activities that was literally forced upon the administration by an outraged legislative branch.
