Social Work Practice in Political Campaigns.

The article describes the role of social workers during political campaigns. Challenge of political campaigns; factors that need to be considered by social workers to be effective in political campaign work; need to develop human relations skills are also discussed in the article. Meeting the social welfare needs of people affected by Reaganomics is a continuing concern of the social work profession. The impetus for social workers to become involved in politics has never been greater than in these conservative times. As an ongoing policy, Reaganomics affects, daily, the lives of many people and determines the availability of social service programs to, meet peoples' needs. U.S. President Ronald Reagan's policies concerning the best use of the taxpayer's dollar in curbing inflation have resulted in major cutbacks in social welfare programs. These cutbacks have forced social workers to advocate for the maintenance of many existing programs and to protest against any further cutbacks. In the 1980s social workers in social welfare have encountered enormous controversy regarding the need for social welfare programs. Not to participate in political activities is tantamount to acceding to the drastic cuts in funding and to the practice of narrowing the eligibility criteria to such an extent that only restricted groups.