Gender & Public Policy : Cases and Comments /
Winston, Kenneth
Gender & Public Policy : Cases and Comments / Kenneth Winston & Mary Jo Bane - USA : Westview Press ; 1993 - xiii, 387 pages : ill. ; 23 cm.
Includes bibliographical reference and appendix.
Preface
This volume consists of selected cases-personal stories, court opinions,historical narratives, managerial decisions, political disputes-designed to facilitate classroom discussion of gender issues that arise in public policy debates. The cases focus on such topics as family, education, reproduction,the workplace, welfare programs, and politics. They reflect no particular theoretical or ideological perspective, but rather enable teachers and stu-dents to approach gender issues from many points of view.
In covering such an array of topics, our aim has been to facilitate the examination of certain thematic contrasts that pervade public policy deli b-day ions. These contrasts include those between justice and compassion, au-tonomy and responsibility, equality and difference, competition and coop-eration, public and private, self-interest and the common good. At the sametime,each case opens up an area of reflection and inquiry, and by followingthe suggestions in our comments and recommended readings sections, thereader can pursue each in greater depth. In our own teaching of these ma-terials, we have kept our classes case-focused, but we have also supple-mented the cases with background readings. Depending on what we wishedto emphasize, we used essays by historians for an overview of develop-ments in policy areas; by philosophers to clarify key concepts and analyzeimportant arguments; or by policy analysts to provide details on budgetaryimplications, problems of implementation, and the like.
In reviewing currently available texts, we found no public policy case-books on gender issues and few that even include female protagonists. Wetook it as a special aim to correct this imbalance and thereby fill a gap in thematerials for courses in public policy schools, political science departments,and women's studies programs. Yet, we would emphasize that the focus ison gender issues, not simply women's issues.More than one-third of thecases involve men in some central way.And, though we have made no at-tempt at a comprehensive treatment of questions of race and ethnicity,people of color are central in five cases.
ing,we have found it useful to begin with cases that help students to talkabout their own perceptions of the extent to which gender roles are self-assumed or culturally inherited. The materials on marriage (Part I) provide
You sent
and self-definition are especially prominent. An individual's understandingsocial reality have been previously internalized, and the full story requiresthings appear from a subjective point of view is icomplete.With studentswe think this is a particularly good starting point.
materials on reproductive strategies (Part II). In a number of different ways,prospects and specifically the use of their body. What is dstinctive is thatments, so the central questions come to be framed in terms of women's re-lation to the "natural lottery," that is, aspects of life formerly beyond any-one's control.
Only in Part III, rounding out the first half of the volume, are culturalinstitutions introduced in a more explicit way. The cases in this part addressthe influence of religious, educational, and legal institutions in promoting(or changing) gender identities. Parts IV through VI then concentrate onthree large arenas where the impact of gender conceptions is fundamental-and very much in transition: the workplace, the social services sector,andthe political sphere.
Other instructors, however, may prefer to approach the materials differ-ently.For example, an instructor who wishes to begin with the cultural con-text could start with Part III, then move to the more personal issues in thefirst, second, and fifth parts, and then round out the course with the publicand professional issues in the fourth and sixth parts.
**
Our preoccupation with gender and public policy i long-standing. It began,roughly, in the mid-197Os around the time that we married. Mary Jo becameassociate director of the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley Collegeand wrote a book about changes in family patterns and their implicationsfor public policy. Ken was teaching philosophy at Wheaton College,the old-est women's college in New England until it became coeducational a fewyears ago, and getting involved in faculty study groups on feminism andthe creation of a gender-balanced curriculum. We both felt the excitement ofliving during a period of far-reaching cultural transformation, with so manypeople thinking anew about gender roles. We are indebted to many friendsand colleagues for their intellectual companionship and moral support dur-ing these years, as well as later. We would like to express particular thanksto Laura Lein,who succeeded Mary Jo as associate director and then becamedirector of the Wellesley Center, and to Ken's Wheaton colleagues FrindeMaher,Kersti Yllö, and especially Trudy Villars, whose premature deathfrom breast cancer was a great loss to the whole Wheaton community.
We are also indebted to many friends and colleagues at Harvard's Ken-
You sent
nedy School of Government, where we both held faculty appointments,Mary Jo as professor of public policy and director of the Malcolm WienerCenter for Social Policy and Ken as visiting professor of ethics from 1986 to1991.During this time Ken received generous financial support from DennisThompson, director of the Program in Ethics and the Professions at Har-vard, and from Robert Putnam, former dean of the Kennedy School,for thedevelopment of case materials on gender issues. Two of his cases-"Fertilityand Control: The Case of RU 486" and "A Policewoman's (Non)use ofDeadly Force"-are included in this volume. We are grateful to ChristopherSturr and Jillian Dickert for their skillful writing and diligent library work,as well as to Shari Levinson for her ever-cheerful clerical assistance.
In the fall of 1990, Ken joined a Kennedy School committee on the peda-gogy of diversity, which met regularly to discuss gender and race in theclassroom. Among the faculty members who shared stories of their teachingexperiences-their failures as well as their successes, their frustrations aswell as their aspirations-were William Apgar, David Ellwood,Robin Ely,Ron Ferguson, Olivia Golden, Glenn Loury, and Harry Spence.These dis-cussions were quite valuable in helping us prepare for our own venture inthe spring of 1991 when we cotaught a course on gender and public policy,using most of the cases collected in this volume. Aside from the intellectualexcitement that came from attempting to integrate our different perspectiveson the issues raised by the cases, our experience in teaching the course en-couraged us to believe that the range of materials facilitates productive class-room discussion and creates the moral space for the expression of a widediversity of views.
In April 1992, Mary Jo became commissioner of social services for theState of New York, after previous assignments as executive deputy commis-sioner in that department and as a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S.Department of Education. Mary Jo's experiences in making and implement-ing public policies in two areas of special importance to women deepenedour understanding of the practical and political dimensions of these issues.We were both enriched by her many colleagues who taught us so muchabout "civil service," in the fullest meaning of that term.
In preparing the volume itself, we received special encouragement andsupport from Amy Gutmann, who read the entire manuscript and offeredmany helpful suggestions. Finally, we are indebted to our editors at West-view Press:Spencer Carr for his initial enthusiasm and continuing supportof the project, Martha Leggett for her attentive supervision of the produc-tion process, and Bea Ferrigno for her skillful editing.
0-8133-1301-5
Women -- Government policy--United States
Women--Legal Status,laws,etc--united states
305.420973 / G29 1993
Gender & Public Policy : Cases and Comments / Kenneth Winston & Mary Jo Bane - USA : Westview Press ; 1993 - xiii, 387 pages : ill. ; 23 cm.
Includes bibliographical reference and appendix.
Preface
This volume consists of selected cases-personal stories, court opinions,historical narratives, managerial decisions, political disputes-designed to facilitate classroom discussion of gender issues that arise in public policy debates. The cases focus on such topics as family, education, reproduction,the workplace, welfare programs, and politics. They reflect no particular theoretical or ideological perspective, but rather enable teachers and stu-dents to approach gender issues from many points of view.
In covering such an array of topics, our aim has been to facilitate the examination of certain thematic contrasts that pervade public policy deli b-day ions. These contrasts include those between justice and compassion, au-tonomy and responsibility, equality and difference, competition and coop-eration, public and private, self-interest and the common good. At the sametime,each case opens up an area of reflection and inquiry, and by followingthe suggestions in our comments and recommended readings sections, thereader can pursue each in greater depth. In our own teaching of these ma-terials, we have kept our classes case-focused, but we have also supple-mented the cases with background readings. Depending on what we wishedto emphasize, we used essays by historians for an overview of develop-ments in policy areas; by philosophers to clarify key concepts and analyzeimportant arguments; or by policy analysts to provide details on budgetaryimplications, problems of implementation, and the like.
In reviewing currently available texts, we found no public policy case-books on gender issues and few that even include female protagonists. Wetook it as a special aim to correct this imbalance and thereby fill a gap in thematerials for courses in public policy schools, political science departments,and women's studies programs. Yet, we would emphasize that the focus ison gender issues, not simply women's issues.More than one-third of thecases involve men in some central way.And, though we have made no at-tempt at a comprehensive treatment of questions of race and ethnicity,people of color are central in five cases.
ing,we have found it useful to begin with cases that help students to talkabout their own perceptions of the extent to which gender roles are self-assumed or culturally inherited. The materials on marriage (Part I) provide
You sent
and self-definition are especially prominent. An individual's understandingsocial reality have been previously internalized, and the full story requiresthings appear from a subjective point of view is icomplete.With studentswe think this is a particularly good starting point.
materials on reproductive strategies (Part II). In a number of different ways,prospects and specifically the use of their body. What is dstinctive is thatments, so the central questions come to be framed in terms of women's re-lation to the "natural lottery," that is, aspects of life formerly beyond any-one's control.
Only in Part III, rounding out the first half of the volume, are culturalinstitutions introduced in a more explicit way. The cases in this part addressthe influence of religious, educational, and legal institutions in promoting(or changing) gender identities. Parts IV through VI then concentrate onthree large arenas where the impact of gender conceptions is fundamental-and very much in transition: the workplace, the social services sector,andthe political sphere.
Other instructors, however, may prefer to approach the materials differ-ently.For example, an instructor who wishes to begin with the cultural con-text could start with Part III, then move to the more personal issues in thefirst, second, and fifth parts, and then round out the course with the publicand professional issues in the fourth and sixth parts.
**
Our preoccupation with gender and public policy i long-standing. It began,roughly, in the mid-197Os around the time that we married. Mary Jo becameassociate director of the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley Collegeand wrote a book about changes in family patterns and their implicationsfor public policy. Ken was teaching philosophy at Wheaton College,the old-est women's college in New England until it became coeducational a fewyears ago, and getting involved in faculty study groups on feminism andthe creation of a gender-balanced curriculum. We both felt the excitement ofliving during a period of far-reaching cultural transformation, with so manypeople thinking anew about gender roles. We are indebted to many friendsand colleagues for their intellectual companionship and moral support dur-ing these years, as well as later. We would like to express particular thanksto Laura Lein,who succeeded Mary Jo as associate director and then becamedirector of the Wellesley Center, and to Ken's Wheaton colleagues FrindeMaher,Kersti Yllö, and especially Trudy Villars, whose premature deathfrom breast cancer was a great loss to the whole Wheaton community.
We are also indebted to many friends and colleagues at Harvard's Ken-
You sent
nedy School of Government, where we both held faculty appointments,Mary Jo as professor of public policy and director of the Malcolm WienerCenter for Social Policy and Ken as visiting professor of ethics from 1986 to1991.During this time Ken received generous financial support from DennisThompson, director of the Program in Ethics and the Professions at Har-vard, and from Robert Putnam, former dean of the Kennedy School,for thedevelopment of case materials on gender issues. Two of his cases-"Fertilityand Control: The Case of RU 486" and "A Policewoman's (Non)use ofDeadly Force"-are included in this volume. We are grateful to ChristopherSturr and Jillian Dickert for their skillful writing and diligent library work,as well as to Shari Levinson for her ever-cheerful clerical assistance.
In the fall of 1990, Ken joined a Kennedy School committee on the peda-gogy of diversity, which met regularly to discuss gender and race in theclassroom. Among the faculty members who shared stories of their teachingexperiences-their failures as well as their successes, their frustrations aswell as their aspirations-were William Apgar, David Ellwood,Robin Ely,Ron Ferguson, Olivia Golden, Glenn Loury, and Harry Spence.These dis-cussions were quite valuable in helping us prepare for our own venture inthe spring of 1991 when we cotaught a course on gender and public policy,using most of the cases collected in this volume. Aside from the intellectualexcitement that came from attempting to integrate our different perspectiveson the issues raised by the cases, our experience in teaching the course en-couraged us to believe that the range of materials facilitates productive class-room discussion and creates the moral space for the expression of a widediversity of views.
In April 1992, Mary Jo became commissioner of social services for theState of New York, after previous assignments as executive deputy commis-sioner in that department and as a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S.Department of Education. Mary Jo's experiences in making and implement-ing public policies in two areas of special importance to women deepenedour understanding of the practical and political dimensions of these issues.We were both enriched by her many colleagues who taught us so muchabout "civil service," in the fullest meaning of that term.
In preparing the volume itself, we received special encouragement andsupport from Amy Gutmann, who read the entire manuscript and offeredmany helpful suggestions. Finally, we are indebted to our editors at West-view Press:Spencer Carr for his initial enthusiasm and continuing supportof the project, Martha Leggett for her attentive supervision of the produc-tion process, and Bea Ferrigno for her skillful editing.
0-8133-1301-5
Women -- Government policy--United States
Women--Legal Status,laws,etc--united states
305.420973 / G29 1993