ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author examines three means of developing constituencies: through establishing advisory boards, through enlisting representatives of special populations on commissions, and through awarding contracts and grants. A concurrent development of a constituency has been occurring in the volunteer-action world, principally through the National Council on Alcoholism. The concept of building a constituency, which has thus far been interpreted as widening the base of support and increasing attention to alcohol problems, took on a negative tone when these large grants and contracts came under congressional scrutiny, in the spring of 1976. The House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment “accused the institute of farming out work that could be performed more usefully by its own staff.
