Social Policy“The preamble to the
Constitution states that ‘We the People of the United
States, in Order to create a more perfect union, establish Justice…promote the general
Welfare…do ordain and establish this Constitution.’ Social policy is set with this
important charge in mind.” - Wood
Social Policy: An overview• Government’s responsibility for the welfare of its citizens
remains controversial and disputed today• Generally 2 types of programs:– Majoritarian- benefits almost everyone
• Ex. Social Security, Medicare
– Client- benefits only a small number• Ex. Medicaid, Food Stamps• Means tested- must fall below a certain income level to qualify
• Entitlement programs: government-sponsored programs providing mandated benefits to those who meet eligibility requirements
Social Welfare in the United States 4 Factors shape policy:1. Who should benefit? Insistence that it be only
those who cannot help themselves• Slow, steady change in deserving/undeserving
line • Alterative view: fair share of national income;
government redistribute money • Preference to give services, not money, to help
deserving poor
2. Late arrival of welfare policy • By 1935 Social Security Act, we were behind
twenty-two European nations • Contrast with Great Britain in 1908– “What ordinary politics brought to England in 1908,
only the crisis politics of 1935 would bring to the United States.”
– But once the programs started, they grew fast!• By 1983, one third of all Americans received benefits from
one or more social welfare programs.
3. Influence of federalism • Federal involvement “illegal” until 1930s – Why? Powers not delegated are left to states– What changed? Courts constitutional interpretation
• Experiments by state governments – Argues against federal involvement because state
already providing welfare – States lobbied for federal involvement to help them
4. Non-govt institutions play a big role
• Non-govt institutions get contracts and grants to administer social welfare programs– Ex. Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Catholic Charities
• 1996 Welfare reform law allowed religious organizations to compete for govt contracts=Charitable Choice (but couldn’t use $$ to preach)– Bipartisan support, programs have increased
Majoritarian welfare programs Social Security Act of 1935• Great Depression of 1929: local relief was overwhelmed • Elections of 1932: Democrats & FDR swept in– Legal and political roadblocks; was direct welfare
unconstitutional?– Fear of more radical movements
– Long’s “Share Our Wealth”– Sinclair’s “End Poverty in California”– Townsend’s old-age program
• Cabinet Committee’s two-part plan– “Insurance” for unemployed and elderly – everybody pays/benefits– “Assistance” for dependent children, blind, aged – everybody pays, some
benefit– Federally funded, state-administered program under means test
Majoritarian welfare programs Medicare Act of 1965• Medical benefits omitted in 1935: controversial but done to ensure
passage • Opponents:
• AMA • House Ways and Means Committee under Wilbur Mills (R-Arkansas)
• 1964 elections: Democrats’ big majority altered Ways and Means Com.
• Objections anticipated in plan • Applies only to the old, not everybody • Only hospital, not doctors’, bills covered
• Broadened by Ways and Means to include Medicaid for poor; pay doctors’ bills for elderly
• Passed the Democratic-controlled Congress with ease
Reforming majoritarian welfare programs
Social Security • Not enough people paying into Social Security • Three solutions: – Raise the retirement age to seventy, freeze the size of
retirement benefits, raise Social Security taxes – Privatize Social Security- people would contribute into
account invested in Stock Market (better return, but risky)– Combine first two methods and allow individual investment
in mutual funds
Reforming majoritarian welfare programs
Medicare • Problems: huge costs and inefficient • Possible solutions – Get rid of Medicare and have doctors and hospitals work for
government (Con: slower care, fewer benefits, less innovation)– Elderly take Medicare money and buy health insurance (con:
affordability)• Delaying the inevitable – Clinton used the surplus to create new benefits (prescription
drug plan)– Bush and attempts at new health care measures – Medicare
Modernization Act of 2003 (pushed by interests -AARP)
Pros and Cons: Majoritarian politics
• Programs with widely distributed benefits & costs – Beneficiaries must believe they will come out ahead – Political elites must believe in legitimacy of program
• Social Security & Medicare seemed great!• Debate over legitimacy: Social Security (1935)– Constitution did not authorize federal welfare
(conservatives)– But benefits were not really a federal expenditure (liberals)
• Good politics unless cost to voters exceeds benefits
Client welfare programs: AFDC(Aid to Families with Dependent Children)
• Scarcely noticed part of Social Security Act • Federal government permitted state to
– Define need – Set benefit levels – Administer program
• Federal government increased rules of operation, added more and more regulations
• New programs (e.g., Food Stamps, Earned Income Tax Credit, free school meals)
Client welfare programs: AFDC• Problems:– States complained about federal regulations – Public opinion turned against program
• Corruption• Weakened the family (got more money for more kids)
– Composition of program participants changed • 1970: half of women were widowed/divorced• 1994: only 1 quarter, the rest never married• Also, 2/3 of women were on for 8 years or more!
• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) 1996– Stricter requirements and limits on how long families could
collect– Lowered welfare caseload by 60%
Pros and Cons: Client politics
• Programs pass if cost to public not perceived as great and client considered deserving
• Americans believe today that able-bodied people should work for welfare benefits
• Americans prefer service strategy to income strategy (give service/training rather than money)– Charles Murray: high welfare benefits made some
young people go on welfare rather than seek jobs – No direct evidence supports Murray
Social Policy • U.S. government currently assumes
responsibility for – Health care– Welfare– Education