Closing the “Domestic Intelligence Gap”: US Senator Walter Mondale's Proposal for a National Council of Social Advisers and the “Uneasy Partnership” between Social Science and the Federal Government

Mark Solovey, University of Toronto

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Senator Walter Mondale introduced legislation for a national Council of Social Advisers (CSA) led by three members, presumably social scientists, and located in the executive branch. The council would gather data on social conditions, analyze social trends, and assess government programs designed to address social problems. The council would also help the president to prepare an annual social report of the nation, which would be presented to congress for discussion. By doing these things, the social science council would, Mondale hoped, help to clarify, promote, and achieve major social goals, with equal opportunity for all Americans at the top of the list. In 1970 and 1972, bills including the proposed council were approved by the full Senate. But companion bills in the House stalled. Though the literature on federal policy, liberal reform, and the social sciences is immense, Mondale's proposal has received little attention. This paper advances two main claims. First, the CSA initiative emerged from Mondale's deep commitment to a robust agenda for liberal reform, which linked his family upbringing and early involvement with progressive politics to his work as a U.S. Senator in support of the Great Society both during and after the Johnson presidency. Second, though his effort came to naught, and despite the rather limited attention it has received, his CSA initiative stands out as the single most ambitious effort in the second half of the 20th century to elevate the visibility and policy significance of the social sciences at the highest levels of American government. The evolution and ultimate demise of Mondale’s initiative is part of a much larger story about the waning power of a liberal reformist agenda that had a key role for the social sciences in service of an activist, well-informed, and socially progressive state.

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 Presented in Session 145. Scientific Innovation and Development: Whence and Whither the State?