A Historical Preface to the Americans with Disabilities Act

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward D. Berkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Americans With Disabilities Act ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Disability Policy ◽  
White House ◽  
George Bush

On 26 July 1990, President George Bush signed an ambitious new civil rights law at an emotional ceremony held on the South Lawn of the White House. Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, PL 101–336) brought civil rights protections for people with disabilities to a level of parity with civil rights protections already enjoyed by racial minorities and by women. What accounted for a Republican administration enthusiastically endorsing a sweeping civil rights law that might benefit as many as 43 million people? Briefly put, historical traditions within disability policy that in turn reflected broader trends within social welfare policy between 1950 and 1990 allowed the ADA to be portrayed in conservative terms that were congenial to a Republican administration.

Social Welfare Policy in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horman Chitonge ◽  
Ntombifikile Mazibuko
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Social Welfare Policy

Support for the Americans With Disabilities Act Among Nondisabled People

2021 ◽  
pp. 104420732110231
Author(s):  
Carli Friedman ◽  
Laura VanPuymbrouck
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Americans With Disabilities Act ◽  
A Priori ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Relationship

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) opened the doors to access and enhanced the civil rights of people with disabilities. However, a lack of accessibility to all segments of society continues throughout the United States and is frequently described by people with disabilities as a leading cause for limited participation. Beliefs and attitudes regarding disability can affect critical decisions regarding inclusion and people with disabilities’ civil rights. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore support and opposition to the ADA among nondisabled people. We had the following research questions: (a) What is the relationship between disability prejudice and support for the ADA? and (b) When controlling for disability prejudice, what other factors lead people to support the ADA? To do so, we examined secondary data from approximately 13,000 participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Findings from this study revealed that people who oppose the ADA are significantly more prejudiced toward people with disabilities than people who support the ADA. Understanding and becoming aware of attitudes and prejudice toward persons with disabilities can be a first step toward dispelling such beliefs and possibly a priori step to achieving the intent and spirit of the ADA.

Don’t You be My Neighbor: Support for Racial-Exclusion Constitutional Provisions in Mid-19th Century Indiana and Illinois

2021 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2110153
Author(s):  
Jac C. Heckelman ◽  
John Dinan
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Racial Threat ◽  
Southern State ◽  
State Constitutions ◽  
Racial Exclusion ◽  
Constitutional Conventions ◽  
Levels Of Support

Racially discriminatory provisions in the U.S. Constitution and southern state constitutions have been extensively analyzed, but insufficient attention has been brought to these provisions when included in northern state constitutions. We examine constitutional provisions excluding blacks from entering the state that were adopted by various northern states in the mid-19th Century. Previous scholarship has focused on the statements and votes of the convention delegates who framed these provisions. However, positions taken by delegates need not have aligned with the views of their constituents. Delegates to state constitutional conventions held in Illinois in 1847, Indiana in 1850 and 1851, and Oregon in 1857 opted to submit to voters racial-exclusion provisions separate from the vote to approve the rest of the constitution. We exploit this institutional feature by using county-level election returns in Illinois and Indiana to test claims about the importance of partisan affiliation, religious denomination, social-welfare policy concerns, labor competition, and racial-threat theory in motivating popular support for entrenching racially discriminatory policies in constitutions. We find greater levels of support for racial exclusion in areas where Democratic candidates polled better and in areas closer to slave-holding states where social-welfare policy concerns would be heightened. We find lower levels of support for racial exclusion in areas (in Indiana) with greater concentrations of Quakers. Our findings are not consistent with labor competition or racial-threat theories.

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