Rogerian Social Policy

Final Essay

Social policy’s main purpose is to ensure the wellbeing of humans. This policy includes various topics such as civil rights, gun policy, recreational drug use, and even women’s rights. (Social Policy, n.d.). The broadness of the social policy causes an array of opposing opinions, especially between the Democratic and Republican party. For example, Democrats believe homosexuals should have equal rights to heterosexuals. They should be able to marry or adopt children if they choose to do so. On the contrary, Republicans believe that marriage and adoption should only be accepted when a man and a woman are involved. (Democrat vs Republican, n.d.). Under the women’s rights branch, the two party also contradict. Republicans believe that

A University of Tulane scholar states “Theories of agenda setting, despite being built by relatively modest case studies, contain within them general theories of politics whether they are implicit or declared. They begin by offering a theory of policy change, perhaps most importantly, undermining theories of incrementalism and iron triangles that maintain dominant interests as they seek to explain sudden and dramatic shifts in policy, what Baumgartner and Jones (1993) refer to as the lurching quality of public policy,” (Kenney, 2003). She believes that agenda setting and women’s rights can be equally helpful and hurtful. She describes that the American political system is neither a pluralist, meaning a neutral realm open to all who enter, nor an iron triangle, meaning it favors a single subject in an unopened system, and not patriarchal. She views it as a “non-neutral arena structured against the interests of women but relatively autonomous, capable of occasionally being harnessed for feminists ends, and, perhaps even more importantly, as an arena where so much damage can be done to women that feminists cannot therefore afford to abandon it. The daunting challenge of developing a general theory of agenda setting has led some scholars to focus on how one individual institution–Congress, the Supreme Court, or the presidency–sets its agenda,” (Kenney,

They have a thorough mission statement that declares, “ATF is a law enforcement agency in the United States’ Department of Justice that protects our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products,” (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, n.d.). They work with many leaders, such as the police, to ensure our country stays safe (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, n.d.). There are also various interest groups involved in the social policy. For gun control, there are Americans for the Protection of Children Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Gun Owners of America, Gun Sense, National Rifle Association, and National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, who either are for or against stricter gun control laws. For women’s rights there are, CitizenLink, Campaign for Working Families, Democrats for Life of America, Emily’s List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Right to Life Committee, Republican National Coalition for Life PAC, Susan B. Anthony List, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Population