For the past sixty years, social and political struggles have taken new forms in the United States, imposing continuous pressures on our values and institutions. Rising global tensions and value conflicts stem from our resolve to pursue objectives such as political freedom and social diversity while maintaining economic freedom and independence. Societal relations are directly affected by political interests and global economic competition.

There is much more to the social and governmental environment, however, than simply promoting economic freedom and social diversity. Recent turbulence surrounding public administration has resulted from a host of changes, paradoxes, and conflicts. Chief among them is rapid social change, not only in population growth, immigration patterns, but also in rapidly changing governmental roles, and a multitude of technological innovations.

Our capacity for economic growth is seriously hampered by a weaker U.S. dollar and dependence on imported goods and raw materials, chiefly petroleum, but also limits resulting from depletion of our natural resources. As the world’s largest debtor nation, the United States buys more from foreign providers than it sells on global markets. This weakens our balance of trade with other nations, and results in income and job losses from our products and services being less competitive on world markets. Politically, the United States continues to search for greater consensus regarding the direction in which we should try to move.

Another factor affecting our economic viability is the knowledge explosion, including the spread of technology, which carries with it increasing potential for very different kinds of human interactions. Growth of knowledge, science, and technological change are closely linked with changes in society and human capabilities, values, and behavior. For example, high-speed wireless communications permit direct citizen-to-citizen contacts across international borders which might make it possible to foment revolutionary uprisings in repressive political regimes.

The present unstable social and political environment in the United States threatens long-standing safety nets for many millions of low-income, disadvantaged, unemployed, physically challenged, and elderly Americans. There is an imbalance between public and private sectors in dealing with society’s deeply rooted social problems. The public (governmental) side of the scale still carries most of the overall responsibility—but this may not always be the case.