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The article analyzes the dynamics of access among the welfare poor. Participation in political society is often considered from the perspective of the theory of democratic pluralism. This theory, which, in the 1960's, inspired a lively debate between those who found decisions controlled by monolithic elites and those who found multiple points of decision-making, has increasingly seen the empirical grounds of contention moving toward questions of participation and access to decision-making processes by non-elites. Access has been studied by analyzing the resources of individuals, the experience of new participants, the potential for manifestation of "quasi-groups," the effectiveness of group organization, and the response of competing groups, elites, and the public to the access-seeker. To comprehend the two-sided process of access-seeking, one must examine the forces that grant or block access as well as the parties that seek access. The central problem to which the empirical study of this paper is directed is the question of how difficult it is for a newly-formed group to gain a foothold in a presumably pluralistic structure of power.

The article discusses various issues related to welfare research. One of the biggest conceptual dilemmas in welfare research is the definitional problem. A few social scientists have stepped back from empirical data and have developed a panoramic view of the welfare system or have struggled to provide a conceptual framework for a field one might term the social science of welfare. These analysts have not been content with the everyday situation. Even among those who have made important contributions toward delineating a science of social welfare there is as yet no agreement on what should or should not be included in definitions, and by implication social science analyses, of social welfare. Despite definitional limitations, current welfare research has developed substantial information about public assistance programs and recipients. Several research papers, particularly that of economists, have zeroed in on the determinants of work-welfare choices. In spite of the growing literature on recipients little attention has been given to demographic or ecological analysis. Since public assessments have accentuated speculative propositions linking demographic change to welfare problems, it would be appropriate for more social scientists to undertake such analysis.

Scandinavian countries are justifiably proud of their concern for human well-being, and have instituted massive programs to improve the general welfare, health and housing conditions of families with children. Needs of handicapped children have not been neglected, and much has been done in Denmark, Sweden and Norway to encourage the satisfactory development of these children and to provide appropriate educational facilities for them. This paper reviews current trends in the provision of special educational treatment for maladjusted children and adolescents in Norway.

The article presents information on the books, "Curtailment of Non-Defense Expenditures," by Henry P. Seidemann and "Correction Please!" By a series of logical and convincing arguments, Seidemann contends that by decreasing non-defense expenditures it is possible to further the war effort through better utilization of manpower, finance and material. The alternatives confronting the nation are either to proceed without concern over the mounting public indebtedness or to strive to limit its growth without impairing essential governmental functions with the object of stabilizing the economic life of the nation. The author's suggested reductions of expenditures in: flood control, rivers and harbors, other water projects, agriculture, public domain, public welfare, highway development and executive and other general activities together with the transfer of certain costs to state and local governments would effect a reduction of more than two billion dollars in federal expenditures for non-defense purposes. "Correction Please!" is a loose-leafed visible-indexed collection of papers directed to the intelligent elite whose responsibility it is to so redesign the social system that the inborn nature of the philistine will guide him to behave better.