The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which was the first piece of legislation to provide for basic literacy training to adults, was passed as a result of a number of factors, including socioeconomic conditions, the influence of the media, and the political astuteness of President Lyndon B. Johnson. As a redistributive policy, the Economic Opportunity Act and the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program were designed to attack both the roots and consequences of poverty by developing employment opportunities, improving productivity, and enhancing the quality of life. Although a rational strategy was originally used to formulate ABE programming and policy, the decision-making process surrounding ABE has been filled with trade-offs and bargaining, thus resulting in incremental outcomes. Whereas the original authorization of ABE in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 gave much discretion to state and local agencies, the 1978 Amendments to the Adult Education Act established expenditures for target populations and described how the program would reach those groups who needed ABE most. This trend toward more directive legislation was reversed in the 1984 Amendments to the Adult Education Act, which were intended to streamline ABE and give states more discretion to operate their own ABE programs based on their individual needs. (MN)