1st Edition

The Politics of Alcoholism Building an Arena Around a Social Problem

By Carolyn Wiener Copyright 1980
    310 Pages
    by Routledge

    310 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Politics of Alcoholism can be read on one level as a fascinating history of the evolving politics of what this country is doing about “the problem of alcoholism.” Not so long ago that problem was scarcely larger than a human hand against the horizon, but now it makes good, regular newspaper copy. This text follows through on the much-raised question of how a social problem becomes defined as a large scale problem, when the same phenomenon x Preface now labeled as “a problem” was not so named before. What is offered here is a direct attack on the rise into public visibility of something previously the concern of a relatively small number of people and groups, and which gets defined along the way as a problem for the whole nation. The second issue addressed is closer to the political scientist’s traditional interest, namely the politics of handling public issues: research and theorizing here usually focus on interest groups, lobbying, public debate, legislative rights, constituencies, and so on.

    PART I INTRODUCTION AND APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM PART II: ANIMATING THE PROBLEM PART III: LEGITIMIZING THE PROBLEM PART IV: DEMONSTRATING THE PROBLEM

    Biography

    Carolyn Wiener (Author)