Movement Effects on Policy Adoption and Impact: The Case of Affordable Housing Mobilization

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 16. Movement Outcomes

Abstract

Social movements, nonprofit organizations, and other interest groups are often able to have an effect on social and political outcomes, but less is known about how they affect these outcomes at different stages of the policy process. I focus on affordable housing policy in the United States, and I look at the determinants of three outcome indicators—the establishment of housing trust funds, the number of low-income housing units built, and the use of housing vouchers, particularly in low-poverty neighborhoods. Using data on the 200 most populous U.S. cities from 1990 until 2010, I find that affordable housing organizations have varying effects on policy adoption, implementation, and impact. The establishment of housing trust funds is more a function of demographic factors and the political orientation of the electorate rather than the presence of organizations. Policy implementation, in the form of housing units built, is, on the other hand, dependent on the presence of housing organizations. Finally, socio-economic impact, measured as the number of housing voucher users living in low-poverty neighborhoods, is mostly dependent on the number of neighborhoods that have less than 10 percent poverty. In other words, voucher users locate in these neighborhoods simply if there are more of them to choose from. The presence of housing organizations and favorable housing policies are both negatively associated with voucher users living in low-poverty neighborhoods, suggesting the need for more research on why this may be the case.

Author

• Akram Al-Turk, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill