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Agency Under Stress: The Social Security Administration in American Government
Contributor(s): Derthick, Martha (Author)

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 ISBN: 0815718241     ISBN-13: 9780815718246
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
OUR PRICE: $23.09  

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: June 1990
* Out of Print *
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | Public Policy - Social Security
- Political Science | American Government - General
Dewey: 353.008
LCCN: 90002123
Lexile Measure: 1500
Physical Information: 245 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Prize-winning author Martha Derthick draws on the recent experience of the Social Security Administration to examine the quality of policymaker's guidance and the feasibility of their policies. Derthick concludes that many structural features of American government hinder good administration, that policymakers lack concern for administration, and that they often miscalculate the administrative consequences of their policy choices. To illustrate this argument, Agency Under Stress analyzes two much-publicized cases of poor performance by one of the biggest and best established of U.S. government agencies, the Social Security Administration. The first case is that of the supplemental security income program to support needy blind, aged and disabled persons. Given responsibility of administering the program in 1974, the Social Security Administration was unequal to the task: many payments were made in error; many eligible persons were not paid; computer systems were not ready; field employees worked millions of hours of overtime; and other agency programs suffered. The second case is that of an eligibility review that Congress ordered the Social Security Administration to conduct for disability insurance recipients in the 1980s. The results were similarly traumatic: of over 1.2 million cases examined, 495,000 had benefits terminated, and, flooded with appeals, the courts ruled overwhelmingly against the agency. Derthick's analysis and conclusions have far-reaching implications for how the government can effectively serve its clients.
 
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