Status of Public Support for Parks and Recreation

by Eugene C. Pomerance Elmhurst, Illinois

Indicated public support for parks and recreation gained very slightly from 1976 to 1977, according to a survey made available by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a Chicago-based public opinion research firm. Parks and recreation as a program ranks 12th of 17 programs measured—ahead of only defense, road and home building and unemployment compensation and welfare.

About a third of Americans believe that the amount of money spent by local, state, and the Federal government for parks and recreation should be increased; about half that number believe spending should decrease; and 50% believe spending should remain the same as now. The net percentage favoring an increase (those favoring more minus those favoring less) rose from 17% in 1976 to 19% in 1977, not really a significant gain.

In fact, as shown in the table, public support for increased government spending follows essentially the same pattern, program by program, in January 1977 as it did a year earlier, in January 1976. The pressure of public opinion is toward increased government spending. Specifically, more people want government spending to increase than want it to decrease for 14 of 17 programs covered in the 1977 survey. The broadest support is for programs that benefit the elderly and disadvantaged-medical care, social security, mental health, and creating jobs. There is also broad support for police and fire protection. Following, with somewhat lower levels of support, are all levels of education, public health, and jails. Pollution and environmental control has more support for increased spending than parks and recreation does.

The publicity given to government and also to political candidates in the course of the campaigns

"Do you feel that the amount of money spent by local, state and the federal government should be increased or decreased for . . . ?" (ASK FOR EACH)
TAXPAYER'S SHOPPING LIST
	% Increase		% Decrease		%Net		% Same
Programs	1976	1977	1976	1977	1976	1977	1976	1977
Medicare for the Elderly .........	69	70	3	5	66	65	24	22
Police Protection...............	58	66	5	3	53	63	35	27
Fire Protection ................	54	64	2	2	52	62	29	30
*Creating Jobs. .................	NA	69	NA	8	NA	61	NA	19
Social Security Payments ........	68	67	4	7	64	60	26	21
Mental Health .................	59	59	5	6	54	53	30	31
Grade Schools and High Schools . . .	51	53	11	11	40	42	35	33
Public Health Programs..........	55	54	12	13	43	41	40	29
Pollution and Environmental Control ....................	44	48	15	12	29	36	37	36
Colleges and Universities.........	40	46	17	13	23	33	38	37
Jails and Correctional Institutions. .	48	46	12	14	36	32	35	35
Parks and Recreation. ...........	32	33	15	14	17	19	50	50
National Defense. ..............	31	35	26	24	5	11	37	39
Roads and Highways............	26	26	17	18	9	8	54	54
Unemployment Compensation ....	35	26	19	26	16	0	43	44
*Building Private Housing.........	NA	25	NA	27	NA	(-2)	NA	42
Welfare and Public Assistance .....	29	21	40	48	(-11)	(-27)	28	26
*This program was not covered in the 1976 survey. NA-Not ascertained.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 12 July/August, 1977

during 1976 did not appear to change the public's desire to see government spending increase, nor did it change the purpose for which the public wants the government to spend our money. A potential effect of the political campaigns is that candidates have had a chance to study opinion closely and are now aware of what the public wants.

Thus, it seems that to affect the amount of money spent for a particular program—such as parks and recreation—it may be becoming increasingly important to influence public opinion rather than to influence legislators directly.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 13 July/August, 1977