ABSTRACT:This article sketches the key dimensions of the pattern of politics which characterized the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program during the Carter presidency and compares and contrasts that with the pattern which has emerged during the Reagan years. The article suggests strongly that Reagan policy initiatives have quickened a shift in the politics of the program away from an emphasis on targeting to defined need toward a more distributional focus. The article highlights some of the reasons for that shift, analyzes the vehicle by which it has been accomplished, and traces its implications for administrative implementation of the program.