Introduction

Distributive policy involves the allocation of federal moneys to subsidize public undertakings; examples are rivers and harbors expenditures, public works projects, and grants for highway construction. The importance of each actor, however, depends upon which type of policy is being enacted. The number of political actors involved increases whenever the political resolution of “moral” controversies is attempted—that is, social regulation. Social regulations, like economic regulations, deliberately use government authority to change behavior. Rearranging economic relationships, however, is a relatively easy task compared with rearranging long-standing social relationships. Although the social regulatory domain has fewer policies compared to economic regulation, redistribution, or distribution, social regulation provokes intense, persistent controversies. Moreover, these controversies have increased in frequency since the 1950s. Theodore J. Lowi investigated the policymaking process from the point of view of particular arenas of power and of the relationships among the key political actors in these arenas who make policy.