US HOUSING POLICY AT THE CROSSROADS - REBUILDING THE HOUSING CONSTITUENCY

Federal housing policy faces an uncertain future and a weak fragmented political constituency. The Republican controlled Congress may dramat ically down-size the U.S. Department of Housing and Cuban Development. Some even want to eliminate the agency altogether, bl response, the C linton administration has promised to reinvest and streamline HUD. Nei ther approach, however, addresses the nation's housing problems or the totality of federal housing programs in arty comprehensive way. The a uthors analyze the factors contributing to HUD's vulnerability, review the various proposals to reorganize the agency, and propose an altern ative and more comprehensive policy that has the potential to expand t he political constituency for federal housing policy.