ABSTRACT
Macro services have historically been a crucial part of the human services professions. They grew out of a variety of early activities, particularly those of the settlement houses, the coordinating roles of the Charity Organization Societies, and the planning and allocating functions of social welfare planning agencies and community fund-raising programs. Older adults constitute the single most active age group in American politics. Because the number of older adults is growing, older adults are becoming an increasingly important part of the American electorate. Political action or lobbying requires that older people be brought together for the identification of their problems and to discuss potential solutions to those social problems. Obviously, the political action has to be about problems that are real and of real concern to older clients. Political action, like all politics, requires organization. People must organize in fairly large numbers to identify problems, develop plans for dealing with them, and carry out strategies for overcoming those problems.
