POLICY ALTERNATIVES AND POLITICAL-CHANGE - WORK, FAMILY, AND GENDER ON THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA, 1945-1990

Legislative change is constrained by the legislative ideas available to lawmakers. Using content analysis, we analyze the ''packages'' of ideas contained in congressional bills proposing (since 1945) to regulate how employers and unions deal with gender differences and employees 'family obligations. We focus on one step in the policymaking process-the formal introduction of the ideas to the legislature in the form of a bill-and document the range of such ideas and their patterns of support over time. We find a narrow range, consisting of three packages of ideas concerning work, family, and gender: a ''separate spheres'' package, an ''equal opportunity'' package, and a package that stresses ''work-family accommodation.'' The equal opportunity package has received by far the most support and separate spheres the least; support for work-family accommodation has increased rapidly in the last decade.