The Small Property Owners Association and Question 9: How Rhetoric Changes Public Policy

Abstract

On Election Day, 1994, Massachusetts voters were presented with the opportunity to ratify a new law which would outlaw rent control across the state. The resolution passed with a slim majority voting yes, and rent control was phased out the following year. Credited with the demise of rent control, the Small Property Owners' Association (SPOA), couldn't have been happier. My research analyzes the role of tenant discrimination in the media campaign run by SPOA, from its founding in 1987 up to the 1994 election. I also analyze the ideology behind SPOA and how it enforces tenant bias. My research is focussed into two parts under the guidance of the Peter Dreier article "The Status of Tenants in the United States" to frame and contextualize tenant discrimination. In the first part I analyze the media profiles written by SPOA about specific tenants and the definist fallacy they use to portray tenants as oppressors. In the second part I analyze the ways SPOA characterizes landlords in the media, paying special attention to themes of class and education.