Mead 27
mentions and the rise in paternalism are both somewhat steeper among witnesses on the right than on
the left. Left paternalism also falls more than right paternalism with PRWORA. Thus, left of center
witnesses continue to maintain progressive stances, but increasingly they address paternalistic issues
also. Thus, if Schattschneider’s mobilization of bias is operating, it does so on left as well as right.
Figure 7: Percentages of left and right witnesses mentioning
progressive and paternalist issues.
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
o
f
w
i
t
n
e
s
s
e
s
0
25
50
75
100
Left progressives
Right progressives
Left paternalists
Right paternalists
SSA
WIN
FAP
PBJI
FSA
PRWORA
We also classify speakers by fourteen types of groups that they represent, including the
administration of the day, members of Congress (appearing as witnesses before the committee, not
committee members), local and state governments, social welfare organizations, academics, think
tank experts, labor and business groups, and so on. Table 4 shows what proportions of these groups
raised progressive or paternalist issues at each stage of the welfare controversy, compared to the
overall trend. The table also shows totals for the numbers of each group appeared in hearings and
how many from each group raised progressive and paternalist issues.
Table 4: Numbers and percentages of witnesses raising progressive and paternalist issues,
overall and by groups:
No.
Convention