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WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS Director, James H. Billington Deputy Director, George Packard Created by Act of Congress in 1968 as an institute for advanced study and as a "living memorial" to the 28th President, the Wilson Center supports serious scholarship and its interaction with the world of affairs. The Center-and The Wilson Quarterly-seek diversity of scholarly enterprise and of points of view. THE WILSON QUARTERLY Editor: Peter Braestrup w Deputy Editor: Timothy J. Adams Associate Editor (Periodicals): Philip S. Cook Associate Editor (Books): Lois Decker O'Neill Assistant Editor: Anna Marie Torres Contributing Editors: Avis Berman, John Burgess, Michael J. Glennon, David Hoffman, Joyce E. Latham, Grace E. Moreman, Jane Ross Editorial Assistant: Debra S. Campbell Research Associates: Stephen J. Harvey, Craig W. Kolkman, Mark Licht, John Milligan, Peter Satris Librarian: Zdenek David Business Manager: William M. Dunn Designer: Elizabeth Dixon Editorial Advisors: Prosser Gifford, A. E.Dick Howard, Richard Seamon, Aaron Segal Published in January, April, July, and October by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Smithsonian Institution Building, Washington, D.C. 20560. Copyright 1977 by the Woodrow Wilson Interna- tional Center for Scholars. Subscription rate: one year, $12. Foreign subscriptions, $14. Foreign subscriptions airmail, $24. Single copies avail- able upon request, $4; outside U.S. and possessions, $6.50. Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. Editorial offices: Smithsonian Institution Build- ing, Washington, D.C. 20560. All unsolicited manuscripts should be ac- companied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Send changes of address and all subscription correspondence to The Wilson Quarterly, P.O. Box 2450, Greenwich, Conn. 06830. BOARD OF TRUSTEES William J. Baroody, Chairman Daniel P. Moynihan, Vice Chairman Ronald S. Berman Daniel J. Boorstin Robert H. Bork Robert A. Goldwin Bryce N. Harlow Henry A. Kissinger David Mathews Paul W. McCracken James B. Rhoades S. Dillon Ripley Dean Rusk Rawleigh Warner, Jr. THE WILSON QUARTERLY WINTER 1977 Editor's Comment PERIODICALS THE PRESIDENCY Portrait of a President by Stephen Hess Jimmy Carter's Theory of Governing by Jack Knoffand Aaron Wildavsky Background Books THE CHANGING FAMILY What the Statistics Show. The Family As Economic Unit by Heather L. Ross and Isabel V.Sawhill Children, Divorce, and Welfare by Mary Jo Bane Where Is the Family Going? by George Levinger Background Books THE SOVIET UNION The Soviet View of America by S. Frederick Starr The American View of Russia by William Zimmerman Background Books CURRENTBOOKS REFLECTIONS: Foreign Policy and the Professional Diplomat by George F. Kernzan Letters SSN:0363-3276 VOLUME I NUMBER 2 IEditor's Comment We welcome amplifications, counter-arguments, and correc- tive data from Quarterly readers; their letters add to the variety of ideas and solid information which this magazine was estab- lished to promote. On the closing pages of this issue appear the first such communications, including a refreshing postscript by historian Thomas Cripps to Russell Lynes's "Highbrow, Low- brow, Middlebrow" (published in our Autumn 1976 issue). This section will be expanded. Such dialogue is important. We cast our net widely, seeking diversity of viewpoint and scholarly approach in the Periodicals section, in our book reviews, in our longer essays. No single Quarterly essay or group of essays can supply the last word. We present political scientist Aaron Wildavsky's "cautionary tale," written with Jack Knott, as much for what it says about the complexity of government as for what it says about Mr. Carter's theory of government; Mr. Wildavsky's views are not shared by all his peers. Similarly, those social scientists who here discuss recent changes in the American family reflect some, but not all, scholarly approaches in the field. Our essays, then, are intended primarily to "open up" sub- jects of importance or to reexamine current developments from new scholarly perspectives. Each Background Books survey, besides providing a guide to further reading, is designed to com- plement the essays by signaling the existence of other opinions and information. We do not regard any subject as exhausted by one Quarterly exposure; we expect to publish more essays on the Soviet Union, for example, by other specialists in the future. So the dialogue will continue, even among scholarly contributors to the Quarterly. A last note. Many subscribers report tardy delivery of the Autumn issue. The explanation: The Postal Service was swamped in October by the diversion of business from United Parcel Serv- ice, idled by a strike. Second-class mail, including this magazine, was considerably delayed, while most first-class mail went through. As a result, some subscribers received their Quarterly bills before they received the first Quarterly. To these readers, in particular, we express our regrets and apologies. Peter Braestrup PERIODICALS Reviews of articles from periodicals and specialized journals here and abroad ---- - POLITICS & GOVERNMENT "Welfare, Poverty and Jobs: A Practi- Making Sense cal Approach" by Brock Adams, in Ckal- leW (sept.-0ct. 1976), 901 N. Broad- Out of Welfare way, White Plains, N.Y. 10603. The present welter of income-assistance programs for the poor are little more than "stop-gap measures" that fail to provide any appre- ciable degree of constructive aid, says U.S. Representative Brock Adams (D.-Wash.), chairman of the House Committee on the Budget. Predicting a protracted public debate over welfare, poverty, and jobs in the next two years, he proposes a federally financed and administered program of grants, rebatable tax credits, and tax relief for the poor that would provide a basic income floor at approximately 75 per cent of the poverty level (now slightly under $5,500 for a non- farm family of four) and also include work incentives. Social insurance programs (e.g., social security, unemployment in- surance) have been stretched and distorted to the point that their effectiveness is strained and their financial soundness placed in jeop- ardy, Adams contends. And the multitude of food, health, child-care, housing, and other in-kind programs for the poor are a "threat to maximum work effort and a barrier to consistent welfare policy." Adams says his alternative, drafted in 1974 by the Joint Economic Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy, offers greater flexibility and equity. It would replace the existing food-stamp program and AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children). Federal management would re- lieve states of a heavy financial and administrative burden and allow them to concentrate on providing social services and administering supplementary benefits for a smaller caseload. While adding between $8 and $15 billion to net federal outlays, such a welfare reform plan, Adams argues, would cost less than continuing Congress's present practice of ad hoc expansion of individual pro- grams. He calls his general income supplement "essential" if a federal jobs program (e.g., as embodied in the pending Humphrey-Hawkins bill) is to avoid luring large numbers of low-paid workers into the pub- lic sector: "Supplementing the wages of workers with low and modest incomes is cheaper than providing them with public jobs, is less disruptive of the private economy, and is more practical administra- tively. Special public-service jobs should be reserved for persons with long-term difficulties in the labor market." The Wilson Quarterly/Winter 1977 3 PERIODICALS POLITICS & GOVERNMENT "The Court Found That Congress Ex- Federalism ceeded Its Power" by Sarah C. Carey, in Nation's Cities (Sept. 1976). 1620 Eye Triumphant St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. In June 1976, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 (in National League of Cities v. Usery) that Congress had exceeded its power in extending the wage and hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act to state and municipal employees. This "unprecedented" interpretation of the Constitution is likely to have far-reaching impact on federal-state relations, writes Carey, a Washington attorney formerly associated with the National Urban Coalition. The key issue was not that the FLSA provisions would increase the costs of state and local government by millions of dollars. Rather, it was the effect that the "budget crunch" resulting from these outlays would have on functions essential to a state or local government's independent existence. Left still undefined is the question of precisely when and how the federal government can legitimately interfere with non-federal governmental functions. The Court's decision had the immediate effect of absolving states and localities of the costs involved in implementing the 1974 amend- ments to the Fair Labor Standards Act. But it remains to be seen whether public-employee unions will not achieve the same end by persuading Congress to require state and local governments to observe the FSLA provisions as a condition for receiving revenue-sharing funds and other federal grants. However, Carey calls the Court's decision "a validation of the prin- ciples of federalism" and predicts that it may well serve "as the basis for additional decisions preserving state powers and even restoring authority that has eroded over the past decades." "Technology Policy and Democracy" by Getting a Handle Barry M. Casper, in Scientific American (Oct. 1976), 415 Madison Ave., New York, On

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