The clearest conclusion to be drawn from this analysis may be that civil
rights is, itself, a multi-faceted dimension, with responses varying in
important ways depending on the sector and the level of specificity
addressed by the question. Overall, there does seem to be both declining
support for civil entitlements and less-than-enthusiastic support for them.
Fewer people now than before think that government should assure that
blacks get jobs. Respondents seem to think that the current pace of civil
rights activity, with all its deficiencies, is "about right" (given that they
were offered the option of saying it is going too slowly). Increasing
proportions of people seem to think that blacks have made real progress.
Citizens are divided on the issue of protecting the rights of the accused and
of the equality of women's roles. While the picture is not dismal at all, it
certainly is not overly enthusiastic to the provision of entitlements.

The elderly seemed to think much like everyone except for the issues of
crime and women's equality. On those two specific issues, the elderly took a
more conservative or traditional or hard-line position than those of the
younger age groups. They were more willing to support "stop crime"
activities and more likely to support more traditional roles for women. The
potential vulnerabilities of the elderly group need to be taken into account.
So, too, does that fact that a higher proportion of the elderly are women. A
substantial number of them may have experienced equality of roles in a
more traditional way, as, for example, in a farm family context. This may
have provided a framework for their answers.

I suspect, based on the data, that the age of entitlements may have
reached its current peak and may now be on the downswing. Among other
pressures, cost looms large. Rights, whatever else they may involve, cost
money. In a period of economic retrenchment people may begin to see a
superfluity of rights. "Back to basics" may mean, in this context, back to a
period when society did not have to pay fully for the fruits of all the labors
it enjoyed. ⁴

-109-