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A STUDY OF THE CREATION OF A FEDERAL CABINET-LEVEL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 1857-1979; WITH AN ANALYSIS OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH PUBLIC POLICY, 1977-1979
Abstract
This dissertation researches, documents and analyzes the history of the creation of the Federal Cabinet-level Department of Education from 1857 to 1979 when it became law under President Jimmy Carter. In addition it intensely studies the period of 1977-79 as the various branches of the Federal government moved towards the eventual enfranchisement of education as a fully-ranked Secretariat. It focuses on the Executive Branch of the Carter Presidency in its approach to creating a separate DOE, its relationship within the administration and outside it that affected the ebb and flow of opinion as the machinery of government worked its way. The documentation is inclusive of intense original research into the personal and private papers of the Carter administration particularly from the Carter Library archives located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is supplemented by related documentation and personal interviews with various administration leaders, interest groups, past and present Members of Congress, and published articles and editorials. This is not an isolated chronology of the success of a concept being transformed into law. It is commentary on the process of the making of Federal education legislation resultant from the actions of those involved within and outside traditional educational constituencies. It is the story of protection of territory by self-interest and self-service. It is in fact the making good on a political commitment by a President of the United States to a friendly interest group on a subject of priority and concern to him. It is educational reform in a democratic society. It is government by compromise. It is politics as the art of the possible with the creation of a separate Department of Education, more symbol than initially desired, but with the potential of a substantive future.
Subject Area
Education history
Recommended Citation
DOBELLE, EVAN SAMUEL, "A STUDY OF THE CREATION OF A FEDERAL CABINET-LEVEL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 1857-1979; WITH AN ANALYSIS OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH PUBLIC POLICY, 1977-1979" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8727037.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8727037