This idea, which has been advocated nationally by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp, has been tried fairly successfully in 30 states since 1980, Pierce says. In fact, Massachusetts is the only one of the 10 largest industrial states which does not have an enterprise zone program, according to Pierce, who tried unsuccessfully to initiate such a program when he was in the state legislature.

Schools of Choice

A second New Paradigm program would replace mandatory school assignments with educational vouchers. The introduction of "choice" into the school system would mean schools would compete for students, forcing bad schools to improve if they want to remain in business, according to Pierce.

"It makes teachers, principals and, to some degree, students work harder," Pierce said.

While Cavanaugh agrees that the idea of less monopoly in government is a good one, he argues that the school voucher system would require gradual, rather than sudden, implemetation and provisions for children with special needs.

Housing

Finally, a New Paradigm agenda would include selling public housing to tenants in order to decrease the government's involvement and encourage tenant responsibility. This sort of plan, New Paradigm supporters say, would empower the poor by forcing tenants to take a greater responsibility for their own lives.

"People react differently when they are told and shown that they have a power over their own lives," Pierce said.

IOP fellow Claudine Schneider, a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, agrees that private ownership can have many positive effects on the lives of tenants.

"Where I've seen it work, for instance in Chicago, it's been extremely empowering," Schneider said. "The tenants learn management skills. They learn how to make a budget. They develop an entrepreneurial sense that they may not have had the chance to develop before."

But many experts on housing at the Kennedy School express strong reservations about the ability of the government to implement such a program. Apgar, who is the associate director of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, says private ownership, while useful in some respects, would not ultimately solve all the problems faced by public housing tenants.

"There's no magic about home ownership that makes an unskilled worker into a skilled one," says Apgar. "Proving people with a home doesn't provide them with skills."

Cavanaugh agrees that private ownership of public housing would not address many serious underlying problems such as jobs, education, and family background.

"All of these problems are interrelated," Cavanaugh says. "You can't just solve one and say 'I fixed it.'"

Furthermore, both Apgar and Cavanaugh say that the terrible condition of most public housing and the low incomes of public housing tenants complicate the problem.