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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Diers, Amanda (MA). Citizen lobby: An anthropologist’s journey into government. (Baer). 2002.
This thesis addresses the convergence of legislative affairs, ethnography,
AIDS stigmatization, and the health of the nation. Beginning at a very
young age,
the average American citizen is educated in the structure and process
of the United States
government. These lessons are supposed to remain with them throughout
life as the basis
of their political activity with supplemental political debates by candidates
to shape their
current views and help them make voting decisions. It is assumed, however,
that these
lessons are lasting in their intricacy and accuracy.
This thesis includes
the study the United States governmental system from the
inside out. Insights were sought to find a connection between the health
of a nation and
the decision making process of the U.S. government.
HIV / AIDS, a highly
publicized and stigmatized condition, has a long history of
legislative action and advocacy, and provided for an excellent case
study in health
policy. HIV/AIDS public policy and advocacy allowed for participation
in the legislative
process.
Using traditional anthropological ethnographic techniques including
participant
observation, this thesis summarizes experiences from participating in
and researching the
legislative process as it related to HIV/AIDS and more specifically the
Ryan White
CARE Act. The Ryan White CARE Act, authorized in 1990, established an
emergency
system of medical and social care for impoverished persons living with
HIV/AIDS.
Structural information, assumed to be common knowledge, concerning the
United
States Government and its processes was used as baseline data for comparison
to the
"actual" experiences recorded through ethnographic study. The
major theme became
how we think the legislative process works compared to how I observed
it actually
functioning. Methodologies utilized in this research can be compared
to traditional
anthropological studies of cultural practices. In fact, the anthropological
perspective of
the group studied, creates a new vision of the United States Government
as a foreign
"tribe", if you will, with its own unique structures and practices
from the vantage point of
a nongovernmental organization, specifically, Florida AIDS Action.
Great
benefits could be garnered for applied anthropologists from this experience.
If applied anthropologists are truly interested in creating social change
through sound
research, a study of the "cultural practices" of the United
States Government could help
ease the process of introducing anthropological research into the legislative
process.
Anthropologists can learn where to take the research, to whom the research
should be
taken, and what needs to be done with this research.
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