SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT - AN ANALYSIS OF INTEREST-GROUPS INFLUENTIAL IN INTERNATIONAL POPULATION-POLICY

This analysis, written in 1993, explores the relationships among compe ting schools of thought in the international population policy arena. It offers the following observations: (1) Five interest groups are inf luential: the population-concerned community, a market-oriented group, people focusing on equitable distribution of resources, women's advoc ates, and the Vatican; (2) Only one of the five groups wants to draw a ttention to population growth; the other four all have other prioritie s and prefer to reduce attention to demography, seeing attention to po pulation growth as interfering with their priorities; (3) Any attempt to base policy on identified common ground in this situation would res ult in asymmetry, turning policy attention away from population growth .