Central to sociology is the assumption that virtually all forms of social action and public policies have unanticipated consequences for their actors and social systems. Sociologists seek to explore these unanticipated consequences and delineate how they will affect people, policies, and practices. This essay focuses on the unanticipated…

Welfare reform is directed toward development of programs that focus on work. Of major consequence to this move toward welfare reform are misconceptions about welfare recipients. While some can work, fewer than 10 percent of all recipients would be subject to any work requirement, and while many remain on welfare for extended periods, one-half of…

Future federal education policy should shift from complex, detailed regulations to broader grants of authority to state governments, with clear guidelines that specify national goals. Past federal activities, classified as distributive, regulatory, or redistributive, are reviewed to assess factors indicating effectiveness. (CJ)