The Comparison of Programs In order to get behind the surface resemblances of national programs, it seems desirable to look more closely at the relationships of social security programs to each other and their relationship to the political and cultural traditions of the nation. [...] Two main areas of focal interest emerge: first to see how social programs relate to the countries' ways of organizing work, and second, to ex- amine the management of the social benefit programs, and especially the relationship of the bureaucracy to political authorities and to con- sumers, for management forms directly reflect political and economic attitudes in the country. [...] The relative levels of benefit do, however, reveal the society's valua- tion of the status of the recipient, as do the manner of financing, and rules on the limits of eligibility and on the intended groups to be served. [...] If "equality" is taken as a test of value, programs can be measured first by the breadth of distribution of resources and powers among the population (measures of coverage, in social security terms); sec- ond, by the degree of equality or inequality among participants in the amounts of benefits or in the access to decision-making power; and third, by the degree to which resources and roles are dis [...] The question of the organization or management of social security, the allocation of roles in the social security system, and in particular the strain between popular participation and bureaucracy in the development and management of services is thus of central concern.