Profile

Fay Lomax Cook Director and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research Professor, Human Development and Social Policy PhD Program Annenberg Hall Room 207 2120 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-0001 Phone: (847) 491-8704 Fax: (847) 491-9916

Biography

Fay Lomax Cook is Professor of Human Development and Social Policy in the School of Education and Social Policy and director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. She has been President of the Gerontological Society of America; a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences; a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation; a member of the Expert Panel on Performance Outcome Measurement, U.S. Administration on Aging; a member of the Ford Foundation's research advisory committee on Social Welfare Policy and the American Future;  a scientific consultant to the National Institute on Aging; and a member of the North American Program Committee for the International Congress on Gerontology.  She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

 Her research focuses on the interrelationships between public opinion and public policy, the politics of public policy, how Americans come together to discuss policy issues, and the dynamics of public support for Social Security and other social programs.  She is the author or co-author of many scholarly articles and book chapters as well as five books, including most recently Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America with Lawrence Jacobs and Michael Delli Carpini (University of Chicago Press, 2009).

Research/Scholarship
Education

Year		Degree		Institution
1977		PhD, Social Welfare Policy		University of Chicago
1972		MA, Social Welfare Policy		University of Chicago
1968		MA, English Literature		University of North Carolina
1965		BA, English		Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi

Selected Publications

Cook, F.L., L.R Jacobs, and Dukhong Kim (2010). Trusting What You Know: Information, Knowledge, and Confidence in Social Security. Journal of Politics).

Cook, F. L. and M. Czaplewski (2009). Public Opinion and Social Insurance: The American Experience in  Leah Rogne, Carroll Estes, Brian Grossman, Brooke Hollister, and Erica Solway, Social Insurance and Social Justice: Social Security, Medicare, and the Campaign Against Entitlements.

Jacobs, Lawrence R., Fay Lomax Cook, and Michael X. Delli Carpini (2009). Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America.. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bolsen, T. and Cook, F.L (2008). Public Opinion on Energy Policy 1974-2006. Public Opinion Quarterly : 364-388.

Cook, F. L.; M. X. Delli Carpini, and L. R. Jacobs (2007). Who Deliberates? Discursive Participation in America in Rosenberg, Shawn, Can the People Govern? Deliberation, Participation and Democracy: 25_40.

Cook, F.L (2005). Navigating Pension Policy in the United States: From the Politics of Consensus to the Politics of Dissensus about Social Security. Tocqueville Review: 37_66.

Cook, F. L., with M. Delli Carpini and L. Jacobs (2004). Public deliberation, discursive participation, and citizen engagement. Annual Review of Political Science.

Cook, F.L., Barabas, J. & Page, B.I. (2002). Invoking public opinion: Policy elites and social security. Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 66:2: 235–264.

Manza, J. and Cook, F.L. (2002). A democratic polity? Three views of policy responsiveness to public opinion in the United States. American Politics Research, vol. 30:6: 630–667.

Cook, F.L. and Jacobs, L.R. (2002). Assessing assumptions about American attitudes about Social Security: Popular claims meet hard data in Edelman, P. & Salisbury, D.L., The Future of Social Insurance: 82–110.

Cook, F. L., with J. Barabas and B. Page (2002). Policy elites invoke public opinion: Polls, policy debates and the future of social security in F.L. Cook, J. Manza, and B. Page,  Navigating Public Opinion: Polls, Policy, and the Future of American Democracy.

Cook, F.L. (2002). Intergenerational equity in D. J. Ekerdt, R. A. Applebaum, K. C. Holden, S. G. Post, K. Rockwood, R. Schulta, R. L. Sprott, and P. Uhlenberg, Encyclopedia of Aging.

Cook, F. L. (2002). Living longer, living better: The challenge to policymakers. Living Longer, Living Better, Special Committee on Aging.

Cook, F. L., with J. Manza and B. Page (2002). Navigating Public Opinion: Polls, Policy, and the Future of American Democracy. Oxford University Press.

Cook, F. L., with Edith J. Barrett (1992). Support for the American Welfare State: The Views of Congress and the Public.. Columbia University Press.

Research Interests

The interrelationships between public opinion and social policy; the politics of public policy; the effects of public deliberation on political knowledge and participation; and the dynamics of public support for older Americans

Teaching/Advising
Courses

HDSP 440		The Politics of Public Policy This course examines the politics underlying policy development and the policy process. We begin with a time-ordered sequence of steps. Then, we use this framework to show the many constraints of all kinds that limit the utility of the rational actor model as a way of understanding policy development and the policy process but do not destroy it. The theoretical and empirical literature on the politics of public policy is explored to understand the determinants of how issues emerge on policy agendas and the political opportunities and constraints within the policy process.  It should be a useful course for students who want (1) to work in the policymaking world, (2) to do research to inform policy, or (3) to conduct research on the politics of public policy.
SESP 351		Civic Engagement Overview of the course: During the last two decades, interest in civic engagement has mushroomed. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and his pre-inaugural call for Americans to engage in volunteer activities has highlighted the increased attention. Numerous commentators have expressed concern about the decline in Americans' willingness to engage in activities that promote community well being. Scholars, policy makers, and program planners have devoted time and energy to studying civic engagement and thinking about how to address it. This course attempts to chart what is meant by civic engagement and how it has changed over time. In particular, we will examine questions such as these: What does civic engagement mean? Why does it matter? To what extent and in what ways has civic engagement changed over time? Has there been an "Obama effect" such that young people have become increasingly interested in civic and political engagement or has that interest been present for some time? Has civic engagement changed in different ways for different groups in the population? What are the implications of a civically engaged population - for people of different ages -- especially, for the larger community, and for the nation? How can we situate civic engagement theoretically, academically, and programmatically? What are the unanswered research questions that need to be addressed in this area? That is, what are we sure we really know, and what do we need to know? Evaluation: The student's grade for this course will be based on attendance, class participation, oral presentation, a mid-term exam, and a term paper.
HDSP 451		Topics in Human Development and Social Policy Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
Soc Pol 201		Introduction to Social Policy Social policy formulation: the substance of major American social policies, the agenda-setting process, and the manner in which the American political system shapes social policy in this country.

Service/Recognition
Professional Service

Year		Organization		Position		Description
2004		Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), France		Visiting Scholar
2000		Gerontological Society of America		President
1999		Virginia Little Memorial Lecture, University of Vermont		Lecturer
1999		Institute on Aging, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill		Distinguished Lecturer
1997		Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development		Distinguished Guest Lecturer
1997		Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA		Fellow
1996		Gerontological Society of America		Elected Fellow
1990		National Academy of Social Insurance		Elected Fellow