ABSTRACT
Because it can generate passion so strong and controversy so divisive, the debate over family policy has been depicted as “the national family wars” (Stacey, 1993, p. 545), the “war against parents” (Hewlett & West, 1998, title page), and “generational warfare” (Skocpol, 1997, p. 123). This confrontational metaphor may be evoked because what lurks beneath the surface of family policy debate is a war of ideas with families as one of the main battlegrounds. Politicians cannot seem to agree on what conditions constitute social problems, which factors contribute to them, what values should drive policy decisions, and how society should respond. In controversial arenas, politicians tend to polarize issues by casting them in simplistic either/or terms, as black-and-white choices, or as liberal or conservative political ploys that make rousing campaign speeches and catchy 30-second sound bites. Yet these political characterizations are often inaccurate and frequently generate “more heat than light, more politics than policies, more slogans than solutions” (Bayme, 1991, p. 14).
