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How American Core Values Influence Public Policy: Lessons From Federal Aid to Small Business, 1953–1993
Author(s) -
Anglund Sandra M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/0952-1895.561998056
Subject(s) - core (optical fiber) , legislature , congruence (geometry) , government (linguistics) , public policy , small business , political science , public administration , economics , law , psychology , social psychology , engineering , telecommunications , linguistics , philosophy
Why does the federal government provide aid for small business? This article contends that American core values are one of the sources of small business aid. Rather than taking the values/policy congruence approach of the national values school, it demonstrates a mechanism through which core values have influenced small business aid and through which core values likely influence other policies. The focus is on the processes of policy problem definition. While a role for core values in problem definition processes has been noted previously, core values have neither been a center of attention, nor have the various paths of values influence been linked. Analysis of the problems defined in the legislative histories of 39 systemically selected small business aid enactments, 1953–1993, shows avenues of values influence that have been under‐appreciated or not appreciated at all.