The book, using analytical methods of political science, provides an initial overall study of the formation of national policy on the status of women. It also focuses on factors most likely to influence the future course of the women's rights movement. Concentration is on existing policy from the end of the Johnson presidency on into the women's movement of the late sixties and early seventies. Chapter one reviews the gap between the rhetoric and reality of economic and legal equality. The following chapter deals with the pressures of a strongly political feminist movement experienced by the first Nixon administration and their lack of support for positive national policy. In chapter three, the author traces the work of "the watershed 92nd Congress" on effecting economic and educational opportunities for women. The fourth chapter delves into the women's rights lobby, its clientele and goals, as well as elitism within the movement. Chapter five outlines detailed goals of optimal national policy developed by equal rights groups. The concluding chapter presents strategy steps of action for the seventies: coordinated planning, maximizing resources, goal priority, alliances with other interest groups, access points in the administration and Congress, and political parties and interest groups. (EA)