Effective Strategies

For the purposes of this study, I have distinguished among activist women by describing the strategies they promoted. My pursuit has been to determine which strategies proved effective under which conditions. Governmental responses to social change do alter outcomes, although not necessarily in predictable or desirable ways. Political decisions can intensify, or retard, nascent social movements. Good strategies push the political system as far as possible without provoking a backlash, making the best of even inhospitable times. The story of policy for women in the premovement era suggests some approaches. In the absence of a strong social movement, we find that posing an all-or-nothing choice results in no gain at all. Conversely, incremental goals often can be achieved. If a group succeeds in gaining access to the White House, executive actions are easier to come by than legislative ones, but successful proposals are virtually always noncontroversial ones with low political costs. Neither a quest for appointments nor devotion to a single nonnegotiable legislative measure is likely to be productive. Compromises, in contrast, can elicit meaningful, if incomplete, initial efforts that can later lead to more effective policy instruments. The lesson is in fact an old one: If you want to get a camel into someone's tent, ask if you can just put its nose under the tentflap.