Abstract

The quote, "This is a health issue not a political issue ... This is a human issue not a gay issue... I don't want to die of Red Tape" (Committee on Governmental Operations, 1985: 2) portrays the struggle of confronting the AIDS epidemic for many AIDS patients and politicians. This thesis unfolds the social, economic and political conflicts in the AIDS epidemic through studying the implementation of AIDS programs. implementation is the process of change from the policy to a program with many variable affecting the process along the way. The variables studied in this thesis are Federal involvement (support of superiors), clarity and urgency of policy, resources, policy professionals, and interest groups. After studying five implementation authors and developing my own model of implementation, the thesis studies a brief history of AIDS and the Federal government's involvement in policy development, resource distribution and support. Theory of implementation is tested through studying and analyzing two case studies: New York State and City and Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio. The reason these two cities were chosen was to study the difference between high incidence and low incidence areas of AIDS and to study the implementation of AIDS programs for minorities. These areas were analyzed through pattern matching. The minority community in both areas suffers from lack of acknowlegement of AIDS as a problem and the lack of political support. The primary findings of this thesis shows that weak Federal support of AIDS policy causes implementation of ineffective AIDS programs. The Federal government needs to develop more precise policies and become more supportive and involved in the AIDS epidemic.

Advisor

Moskowitz, Eric S.

Department

Urban Studies

Publication Date

1988

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 1988 Rebecca L. Geiger