The Politics of Social Policy in the United States

Margaret Weir, Ann Shola Orloff, Theda Skocpol

Princeton University Press, May 21, 1988 - Social Science - 465 pages

This volume places the welfare debates of the 1980s in the context of past patterns of U.S. policy, such as the Social Security Act of 1935, the failure of efforts in the 1940s to extend national social benefits and economic planning, and the backlashes against "big government" that followed reforms of the 1960s and early 1970s. Historical analysis reveals that certain social policies have flourished in the United States: those that have appealed simultaneously to middle-class and lower-income people, while not involving direct bureaucratic interventions into local communities. The editors suggest how new family and employment policies, devised along these lines, might revitalize broad political coalitions and further basic national values.


The contributors are Edwin Amenta, Robert Aponte, Mary Jo Bane, Kenneth Finegold, John Myles, Kathryn Neckerman, Gary Orfield, Ann Shola Orloff, Jill Quadagno, Theda Skocpol, Helene Slessarev, Beth Stevens, Margaret Weir, and William Julius Wilson.

Contents

• The Political Origins of Americas Belated Welfare State: 37
• Redefining the New Deal World War II and the Development of Social Provision in the United States: 81
• Blurring the Boundaries How the Federal Government Has Influenced Welfare Benefits in the Private Sector: 123
• The Federal Government and Unemployment The Frustration of Policy Innovation from the New Deal to the Great Society: 149
• TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE NEW DEAL SYSTEM: 191
• Agriculture and the Politics of US Social Provision Social Insurance and Food Stamps: 199
• From OldAge Assistance to Supplemental Security Income The Political Economy of Relief in the South 19351972: 235
• Postwar Capitalism and the Extension of Social Security into a Retirement Wage: 265
• SOCIAL POLICY RACE AND THE POVERTY PROBLEM: 285
• The Limits of the New Deal System and the Roots of Contemporary Welfare Dilemmas: 293
• Race and the Liberal Agenda The Loss of the Integrationist Dream 19651974: 313
• Racial Tensions and Institutional Support Social Programs during a Period of Retrenchment: 357
• Politics and Policies of the Feminization of Poverty: 381
• Family Structure Black Unemployment and American Social Policy: 397
• The Future of Social Policy in the United States Political Constraints and Possibilities: 421
• Notes on Contributors: 447
• Index: 451

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Politics of Social Policy in the United States; Volume 2 of Studies from the Project on the Federal Social Role
• Editors: Margaret Weir, Ann Shola Orloff, Theda Skocpol
• Contributor: Project on the Federal Social Role (U.S.)
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1988
• ISBN: 0691028419, 9780691028415
• Length: 465 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Sociology / General