l approaches to the review, investigation, and evaluation of the administration of a program. Initially, the routine work of the Senate Finance Committee and the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways and Means Committee identified a potential problem with the future solvency of the social security program trust funds (Aberbach, 1990, p. 107). This identification of a potential problem led to investigative work by the committees and by the Congressional Accounting Office.
While Congressional investigative and assessment work was in progress, the new Reagan Administration assumed executive responsibilities in Washington. The agenda of new administration, as a representative of the New Right in American politics, included the elimination of the social security program if possible or a drastic revision of the program to emasculate it if elimination was proved not to be politically feasible (Dobelstein and Johnson, 1985, pp. 135-137). As a consequence, the remedies proposed by the Reagan Administration to deal with funding problems of the social security program were draconian in character (Myles, 1981, pp. 22-31).
Two significant outcomes followed the proposals of the Reagan Administration. The first was a 96-0 defeat in the Senate of the Reagan Administration proposals for social security revision (Nathan, 1983, p. 61). The character of the Reagan Administration proposals was a wake-up call for Congress, and procedures were adopted in both the Senate Finance Committee and the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways and Means Committee to assure the conduct of close oversight of the social security program for the next several years (Nathan, 1983, pp. 62-63).
From this point on, the Reagan Administration became much more circumspect with respect to its objectives for the social security program (Karger, 1992, pp. 45-61). As a consequence, the Congressional committees re...