ABSTRACT
Although controversy is endemic to politics, the decade of the 1960’s may well be remembered as the era when political controversy erupted with unusual intensity. One of the most controversial pieces of domestic legislation of that period was the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) of 1964, which established Community Action Programs (CAPs), funded by the federal government, yet operated for the most part by private, nonprofit agencies exempt from direct political review or control at the local or state level. This fact alone would have been enough to create severe political repercussions, but insult was added to injury by the requirement that there be “maximum feasible participation” on the part of the residents of the area or of the poor in the operation of the Community Action Program. Because of this single phrase and its implementation in the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and Model Cities Programs, the decade of the 1960’s will most likely be remembered as the decade of participation.
