The Politics of Air Bag Safety: A Competition Among Problem Definitions |
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| Authors: | David J Houston Lilliard E Richardson Jr |
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| Institution: | associate professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His current research interests include public policy theory, transportation policy, citizen attitudes toward democratic institutions, and the ethic of public service. His research has appeared in the Public Administrative Review, Social Science Quarterly, Evaluation Review;, the Policy Studies Review, and other journals. associate professor of public affairs at the University of Missouri, Columbia His current research interests include public policy theory, citizen attitudes toward democratic institutions, tools for enhancing citizen participation in democracy, and state legislatures. His research has appeared in Social Science Quarterly, Evaluation Review, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly;, and other outlets. |
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| Abstract: | In light of 121 deaths attributed to air bag deployments, mainly to children and adults of small stature, recent policy debate has focused on modifying current Federal automotive air bag regulations. A problem definition perspective is employed to understand the nature of this debate. Utilizing a content analysis of the official record of one U.S. House and two U. S. Senate hearings, it is argued that four problem definitions characterize the debate over air bag safety: behavioral, regulatory, technological, and corporate greed. Furthermore, it is argued that a problem definition perspective offers a better explanation of recent changes to Federal air bag regulations than do pluralist, elitist, and principal-agent models. |
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