The Responsiveness of the Israeli National Educational Policy-Making System to Demands for Change, 1973-1975.

This study examines the responsiveness of the Israeli National Educational Policy-Making System (NEPS) to public demands for more civic education during the crisis period of 1973-75. Based on Easton's general theory, the author describes the political situation in terms of wants, demands, support, and regulation and observes NEPS output results. Allison's Rational Actor model guided an inquiry into the strategic decisions taken by high-level NEPS authorities, with regard to the civic education problem, while Allison's Organizational Process model directed analysis of the tactical decisions and actions taken by the organization or its various subunits. Data were gathered during October-December 1975 from government documents, media publications (mostly newspapers), and interviews with high-level NEPS authorities and members of the Knesset's Education Committee. The author concludes that despite the crisis situation that existed during 1973-75, the educational decision-making process continued to yield mostly incremental changes. (JG)