The Public Lives of Rural Older Americans

by Steven A. Peterson

Along with national data, this book uses two detailed questionnaires which were administered to older Americans in Allegany County, New York in 1983 and 1987 as the basis for exploring the public lives of rural older Americans. The authors discuss the factors that shape the political views and behavior of the rural elderly, consulting social, economic, health and nutritional variables. Curious as to older Americans' awareness of the nutrition, social, housing, and mental health programs designed to help them, Peterson and Maiden address the unique set of factors that face the elderly's access to these services while they stress the importance of aggressive community outreach. Their examination of such issues leads to several policy suggestions.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Steve Peterson was born in Kewanee, Illinois. He graduated from Kewanee High School and then received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from Bradley University (in Peoria, Illinois). Then, he went to the State University of New York at Buffalo for graduate study; he received his Ph. D. in Political Science in 1974. He began teaching at Alfred University in 1973 and taught there until he moved to Penn State Harrisburg in 1997.

Steve served as Director of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg until July, 2015. He received his Ph. D. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974. He taught for many years at Alfred University, before moving to Penn State Harrisburg in 1997. His areas of research interest include: American Politics, Public Opinion and Voting Behavior, Biology and Politics, and Public Policy (AIDS policy and education policy). He has authored or co-authored around twenty books, among which are: Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy; The Failure of Democratic Nation Building: Ideology Meets Evolution, Political Behavior: Patterns in Everyday Life; The World of the Policy Analyst; Human Nature and Public Policy, and over 100 publications. He has served as President of the New York State Political Science Association and the Northeastern Political Science Association. He has served as an officer in the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS) and Research Committee # 12 (Biology and Politics) of the International Political Science Association.

He retired in summer, 2017 and is now Professor of Politics and Public Affairs Emeritus at Penn State Harrisburg.

Reviews

[Steven Peterson]

This book uses surveys of older American in Western New York to assess the relationship of rural elderly to government agencies and nonprofit organizations.