Social Welfare
Sociology 185
Fall 2007
Professor: Drew Halfmann
dhalfmann@ucdavis.edu (please contact me by e-mail rather than phone)
Office Hours: Thursday 11:10-12:10 or by appointment
Office: 2273 Social Science and Humanities
(The Sociology Department is on the corner of 3rd St. and Ave. A)
Lecture Time and Place:
TR 12:10-1:30, Hutchison 115
Prerequisite: Upper division standing. Previous courses in the social sciences are
recommended.
Course Description: The course examines the welfare state (social policy)--government
policies that affect the welfare of individuals, families and groups. Such policies include
worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, old-age insurance, public assistance to
people who are disabled or poor, health insurance, sickness and maternity leave, family
and child allowances, child care, educational policy, home mortgage assistance, labor
market policy, tax policy and macroeconomic policy. The course will examine the
characteristics of American policies in comparative and historical perspective. It will
also examine political contention surrounding these policies. The American welfare state
is commonly considered a “laggard”—spending less on social policy than other advanced
democracies and lacking policies which are standard in other countries such as national
health insurance and family allowances. We will explore explanations for this
“American exceptionalism”.
Welcome to the course. I hope you find it challenging and enjoyable.
Required Texts:
Hays, Sharon. 2004. Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Kingdon, John W. 1999. America the unusual. New York: Worth Publishers.
Zuberi, Dan. 2006. Differences That Matter. New York: ILR Press.
Course Packet I and II -- available at Navin’s Copy Shop, 231 Third St. (at University),
758-2311. Note: Be sure to get both course packets!
The books, but not the course packet, are on two-hour reserve at Shields Library.
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SCHEDULE
Session
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Holiday
17
18
19
Final
Day
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
T
R
R
Date
Sept 27
Oct 2
4
9
11
16
18
23
25
30
Nov 1
6
8
13
15
20
22
27
29
Dec 4
6
13
Due Dates
First response paper due
Paper assignment distributed
Paper due
Thanksgiving
No class
Final exam distributed
Last day for response papers
Final exam due in my mailbox by
1:30
RULES AND REQUIREMENTS
Requirements:
1. Participation (15%). This course is run seminar-style. As a result, class participation
is a central component of the learning experience. Participation is meant to contribute
not only to your own learning but to that of your classmates.
2. Three Response Papers (10% each--30%)
3. Paper (30%)
4. Final take-home exam (25%)
Lecture and Discussion: You should come to class prepared to discuss the day’s
assigned readings and participate fully. You must attend class, and make thoughtful, ontopic comments based on readings, lectures, or media coverage, rather than solely on
personal experiences. You will be graded on both the quality and the quantity of your
discussion. I may announce changes to the syllabus or course requirements during the
quarter. You are responsible for keeping up to date with these changes even if you didn’t
attend class. Please turn off cell phones during class and keep late arrivals and departures
to a minimum.
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Individual Meetings: If you have questions, please attend my office hours. You may
also ask questions after class or e-mail me to make an appointment at another time.
Please refrain from asking questions immediately before class or during break (I am
usually preparing for class at these times).
Course Web Site: The syllabus, announcements, and other information will be posted
on the course website through http://smartsite.ucdavis.edu.
Mailing List: I will sometimes make announcements on the course mailing list. You are
responsible for being aware of these.
Assignment submissions: For all written assignments (this includes response papers, the
mid-term paper, and the final exam), you are required to hand in both your final hard
copy and an earlier, marked-up draft. If you fail to turn in a marked-up draft, there will
be a 1/3 letter grade deduction (i.e. from B to B-).
E-mail policy: In recent years, I have noticed a marked increase in student e-mail
messages. As a result, I ask you to send me e-mail messages only in the following
circumstances: 1) to make an appointment to meet with me or 2) to obtain an extension
on an assignment (before the assignment is due and with a legitimate excuse). Please do
not send me any other e-mail messages, including those that ask for clarification of class
materials or class procedures (this should be handled during class, office hours or after
class), that notify me of your absence from class, or that ask what you missed during an
absence (please check with another student). I will only answer e-mails that conform to
this e-mail policy.
Reading Assignments: You should complete readings prior to the class period for
which they are assigned. There may be some changes to the syllabus as the quarter
progresses. Students are responsible for all assigned readings whether they are discussed
in class or not. Many of the materials that you will encounter in this course are mainly
aimed at an audience of professional sociologists. As a result, you may find some of
them difficult. When reading these materials, you should focus on identifying the
author’s main theoretical points without getting lost in historical, statistical or other
empirical details.
Response papers: Over the course of the quarter, you are required to turn in three 2page response papers. You may choose the classes for which you turn in response
papers, but the first one must be submitted by the date on the course schedule. You may
also complete one or two extra response papers which will replace the one or two lowest
of your response paper grades. Response papers are due at the beginning of the class
period for which the readings were assigned. You should be prepared to discuss the
contents of your response paper during that day’s class. For all written assignments,
you are required to hand in both your final version and an earlier, marked-up draft.
If you fail to turn in a marked-up draft, you will be docked 1/3 letter grade (i.e. from B to
B-). Please see the longer description of the response papers at the end of the syllabus.
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Response paper critiques: During the course of the quarter, we will occasionally discuss
and critique one student’s response paper in class. If you are willing to have your paper
critiqued, please submit a draft of your paper by e-mail 48 hours before the class for
which it is due. In return, you will have the opportunity to re-submit the paper one class
meeting after the in-class critique and you will receive one letter grade of extra credit on
the paper (unless you receive an A). The extra credit points and the opportunity to resubmit will only apply to papers that are chosen for critique.
Paper: You are required to complete one ten-page paper assignment. The topic will be
assigned. The paper must rely solely on assigned and, if you wish, recommended
readings. The paper should be 10 pages, typed, and double-spaced (12-pt. Times Roman
font, 1-inch margins). Please number your pages. Do not exceed the page limit--longer
is not better! The paper is to be completed individually without collaboration, except for
editing by a classmate, friend or the Learning Skills Center. You are required to hand in
both your final version and an earlier, marked-up draft. If you fail to turn in a marked-up
draft, you will be docked 1/3 letter grade (i.e. from B to B-).
Final Exam: There will be a take-home final. Students are welcome to turn in the final
early. The final will consist of several essays and will be cumulative. The exam should
be exactly six pages, typed, and double-spaced (12-pt. Times Roman font, 1-inch
margins). Please number your pages. Do not exceed the page limit--longer is not better!
The final is to be completed individually without collaboration. You are required to hand
in both your final version and an earlier marked-up draft. If you fail to turn in a markedup draft, you will be docked 1/3 letter grade (i.e. from B to B-).
Extra Credit: There will be no extra credit papers, assignments, or discussion options.
Late or Lost Assignments, Incompletes: Late response papers and papers will be
docked 1/3 letter grade (i.e. from B to B-) for each day (including weekends and
holidays) that they are late. Late final take-home exams will be docked one full letter
grade per day. Exceptions to the above will only be made with advanced permission in
the event of a documented emergency (send me an e-mail before the assignment is due!),
or with a written excuse from a doctor, therapist or the UCD Counseling Center (7520871). If you turn in a late paper, please e-mail it to me (so I know when it arrived) and
put your draft in my mailbox. Please do not ask the department staff for a time stamp.
Students are responsible for keeping an extra copy of all response papers and papers that
they hand in. Students are also responsible for keeping their graded response papers and
papers until the end of the quarter in case of a grading dispute. I am unlikely to give
incompletes and will only do so if a student has a serious medical crisis, can document its
severity, and has already earned passing grades on two-thirds of the work required for the
course.
Classroom Conduct: It is common for discussion and debate to become spirited in this
class, but you have the responsibility to keep your comments professional and courteous.
Please exercise diplomacy, tact, thoughtfulness, self-restraint and respect for others’ point
of view.
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Students with Disabilities: I encourage students with disabilities, including “invisible”
disabilities like chronic diseases, learning disabilities and psychiatric disabilities, to
notify me so that we can discuss accommodations that might be helpful to you.
Academic Integrity: Students are expected to comply with the rules of conduct and
behavior of the University of California at Davis. All students are expected to complete
response papers and papers independently without collaboration (except as mentioned
above). Any cheating or plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment and a
report of the misconduct to the appropriate campus committee. For information about the
student code of conduct, plagiarism and sanctions for violations of academic integrity,
see the Student Judicial Affairs web site (http://sja.ucdavis.edu).
SCHEDULE
1. Introduction to the Course
CONCEPTUAL AND NORMATIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE WELFARE STATE
2. The Welfare State. How should we define welfare and the welfare state? On what
bases can people claim welfare state benefits or services? How can welfare states be
compared and evaluated?
Olsen, Greg M. 2002. The Politics of the Welfare State: Canada, Sweden and the United
States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 20-31, 59-78.
Recommended
Katz, M. B. 2001. “The Invention of Welfare.” Pp. 1-8 in The price of citizenship:
redefining America's welfare state. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 1990. Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, pp. 18-34.
Marshall, T.H. 1963. Class, Citizenship and Social Development. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Wilensky, Harold. 1975. The Welfare State and Equality. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Flora, Peter and Jens Alber. 1981. "The Historical Core and Changing Boundaries of the
Welfare State." Pp. 17-34 in The Development of Welfare States in Europe and America,
edited by P. Flora and A. Heidenheimer. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
3. Alternative Conceptions of the Welfare State: Taxation and Full Employment
Gale, William G and Peter R. Orszag. 2004. Bush Administration Tax Policy: Summary
and Outlook. Tax Notes, November 29.
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Paul Krugman. 2003. “The Tax-Cut Con”. The New York Times. September 14.
Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson. 2005. Abandoning the Middle: The Bush Tax Cuts
and the Limits of Democratic Control. Politics and Political Science: 3 (1): 33-53.
Recommended
Arone-Dine, Aviva and Joel Friedman. 2006. The Skewed Benefits of the Tax Cuts,
2007-2016. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 16.
Korpi, Walter. 2003. "Welfare State Regress in Western Europe: Politics, Institutions,
Globalization and Europeanization." Annual Review of Sociology 29:589-609.
Hacker, Jacob S. and Paul Pierson. 2005. “Partying with the People’s Money”. Chapter 2
in Off center : the Republican revolution and the erosion of American democracy. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
4. Alternative Conceptions of the Welfare State: Tax Expenditures. What are the
strengths and weaknesses of the hidden welfare state? What is unique about the politics
of the hidden welfare state? Who supports tax expenditures and why? Why is the Earned
Income Tax Credit so popular?
Howard, Christopher. 1997. The hidden welfare state: tax expenditures and social policy
in the United States. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, pp. 3-12, 17-39.
Robert S. McIntyre. 2004. A Payday Bonus. The American Prospect Online, September
1.
Recommended
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 2003. Facts about the Earned Income Credit.
Hacker, Jacob S. 2002. The divided welfare state: the battle over public and private
social benefits in the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 5-27.
5. Visions of Social Welfare. What are the main rationales for the welfare state?
Sunstein, Cass R. 2004. “Reclaiming Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s ‘Second Bill of
Rights’”. The American Prospect. September 20.
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. 1944. “The Economic Bill of Rights”. State of the Union
Address, January 11.
Block, Fred. 2005. "The Roles of the State in the Economy." Pp. 691-710 in The
Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by N. J. Smelser and R. Swedberg. Princeton,
N.J: Princeton University Press, Read 691-698.
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Recommended
Institute for Public Policy Research Commission on Social Justice. 2000. "What is Social
Justice?" Pp. 51-62 in The Welfare State: A Reader, edited by C. Pierson and F. G.
Castles. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
6. Right and Left-wing Critiques of the Welfare State. Are the right and left-wing
critiques of the welfare state correct? Could the welfare state be modified to address
these critiques? Do left and right-wing critics provide viable alternatives?
Hayek, Friedrich. 1960. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 257-62.
Offe, Claus. 2000. "Some Contradictions of the Modern Welfare State." Pp. 67-76 in The
Welfare State: A Reader, edited by C. Pierson and F. G. Castles. Cambridge, England:
Polity Press.
Piven, Frances Fox and Richard Cloward. 1971. Regulating the Poor. New York: Vintage
Books. Intro, 3-8
Fitzpatrick, Tony. 1998. “Implications of Ecological Thought for Social Welfare”.
Critical Social Policy, 18, 1, 5-26.
Ezra Klein. 2006. “The Rise of the Republicrats”. The American Prospect. Pp. 40-43.
September.
Recommended
Norman Barry. 1997. “Conservative Thought and the Welfare State. Political Studies,
XLV, 331-345.
Dany Lacombe. 1996. “Reforming Foucault: A Critique of the Social Control Thesis”.
British Journal of Sociology, 47(2): 332-352.
Hayek, Friedrich. The Mirage of Social Justice in The Essential Hayek.
Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State and Utopia.
THE AMERICAN WELFARE STATE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
7. The American Welfare State. What are the ways in which the American welfare
state is unique? Why did it develop in the way that it did?
Kingdon, John W. 1999. America the unusual. New York: Worth Publishers pp. 1-22.
Recommended
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Katz, M. B. 2001. “The American Welfare State.” Pp. 9-32 in The price of citizenship:
redefining America's welfare state. New York: Metropolitan Books.
8. Gender and the Welfare State. How do welfare states differ in their treatment of
women? How do welfare states reinforce market inequalities?
Nancy Fraser. 1994. “Reinventing the Welfare State.” Boston Review, February-March.
Janet C. Gornick and Marcia K. Meyers. 2002. “Support for Working Families: What
We Can Learn from Europe about Family Policy” Pp. 90-107 in Robert Kuttner: Making
Work Pay: America after Welfare. New York: New Press.
Anne Alstott. 2004. “What We Owe to Parents”. Boston: Boston Review, April/May.
With a response by Eva Kittay.
Recommended
Pateman, Carole. 1989. The Disorder of Women. Cambridge: Polity Press. Pp. 185-189,
192-209.
Sapiro, Virginia. 1990. "The Gender Basis of American Social Policy." Pp. 36-54 in
Women, the state, and welfare, edited by L. Gordon. Madison, Wis.: University of
Wisconsin Press.
Kessler-Harris, Alice. 2001. In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men, and The Quest For
Economic Citizenship in 20th-Century America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9. Race and the American Welfare State. How does history matter for racial inequality
in the welfare state? How does the welfare state reinforce market inequality? What
caused the racial inequality of the American welfare state?
Brown, Michael K. 1999. Race, money, and the American welfare state. Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press. pp. 1-28.
Recommended
Lieberman, Robert C. 1998. Shifting the color line: race and the American welfare state.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, p. 1-22, 216-234.
Gilens, Martin. 1999. Why Americans hate welfare: race, media, and the politics of
antipoverty policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
THEORIES OF THE WELFARE STATE
10. Explaining American Exceptionalism: Social Actors. What are the strengths and
weaknesses of social actor models?
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Quadagno, Jill. 1987. "Theories of the Welfare State." Annual Review of Sociology
13:109-28.
Recommended
Olsen, Greg M. 2002. The Politics of the Welfare State: Canada, Sweden and the United
States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 117-141.
Myles, John and Jill Quadagno. 2002. "Political Theories of the Welfare State." Social
Service Review 76:34-57.
Amenta, Edwin, Chris Bonastia, and Neal Caren. 2001. "U.S. social policy in
comparative and historical perspective: Concepts, images, arguments, and research
strategies." Annual Review of Sociology 27:213-234.
11. Explaining American Exceptionalism: Culture and Institutions. Which approach
do you find most persuasive—cultural, institutional or social actor? Is it possible to
combine these arguments?
Kingdon, John W. 1999. America the unusual. New York: Worth Publishers, pp. 23-56,
79-84.
Steinmo, Sven H. 1994. "American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: Culture or
Institutions." Pp. 106-131 in The Dynamics of American politics: approaches and
interpretations, edited by L. C. Dodd and C. C. Jillson. Boulder: Westview Press.
Recommended
Noble, Charles. 1997. “An Unusually Inhospitable Environment for Reform” Pp. 19-35
in Welfare as we knew it: a political history of the American welfare state. New York:
Oxford University Press.
12. Explaining American Exceptionalism: The New Deal. Which theory or theories
of welfare state development best explains the welfare enactments of the New Deal?
Noble, Charles. 1997. “The New Deal” in Welfare as we knew it: a political history of the
American welfare state. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 54-78.
Amenta, Edwin. 1998. Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern
American Social Policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 3-15, 266-269.
POLICIES
13. Old-Age Insurance (Social Security). Is there a social security crisis? Are private
accounts desirable or not? What are some ways of dealing with the Social Security
shortfall? Is Social Security a successful program?
Jacob S. Hacker. The Privatization of Risk and the Growing Economic Insecurity of
Americans. Social Science Research Council.
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Robert Kuttner. 2004. “What Social Security Crisis?” The American Prospect,
December 23.
William Greider. 2005. “Riding into the Sunset.” The Nation. Pp. 13-21. June 27.
Recommended
Katz, M. B. 2001. “New Models for Social Security” Pp. 232-256 in The price of
citizenship: redefining America's welfare state. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Hacker, Jacob S. 2002. The divided welfare state: the battle over public and private
social benefits in the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 71-173.
Baker, Dean and Mark Weisbrot. 1999. Social security: the phony crisis. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, p. 1-20.
14. Health Care. What is the difference between health policy and health care policy?
Does the US have the best health care system in the world? Why is the US one of the
few countries without universal health insurance? Why did the Clinton reform fail?
John D. Wilkerson. 2003. The Political Economy of Health in the United States. Annual
Review of Political Science, 6:327-43.
Heclo, Hugh. 1995. "The Clinton Health Plan: Historical Perspective." Health Affairs
14:86-99.
Krugman, Paul. 2006. “The Health Care Crises and What to do About It”. The New
York Review of Books. March 23.
Editorial Board, “The Battle Over Health Care”, New York Times, September 23, 2007
Recommended
Kuttner, Robert. 1997. “Markets and Medicine”. Pp. 110-158 in Everything for sale: the
virtues and limits of markets. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Hacker, Jacob S. 2002. The divided welfare state: the battle over public and private
social benefits in the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 179-269.
Skocpol, Theda. 1996. Boomerang: Clinton's health security effort and the turn against
government in U.S. politics. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Morone, James A. 1995. “Nativism, Hollow Corporations, and Managed Competition:
Why the Clinton Health Care Reform Failed”. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and
Law 20:391-398.
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Steinmo, Sven and Jon Watts. 1995. "It's the Institutions Stupid! Why Comprehensive
National Health Insurance Always Fails in America." Journal of Health Politics, Policy
and Law 20:329-372.
15. Education
Hochschild, Jennifer L. and Nathan B. Scovronick. 2003. The American dream and the
public schools. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 9-27, 52-76.
16. Poverty: The 1996 Welfare “Reform”. Why did welfare “reform” occur? Why did
it take the particular form that it did? Was welfare reform a success (from liberal and
conservative perspectives)?
John Cassidy. 2006. “Relatively Deprived: How Poor is Poor?” The New Yorker, April
3.
Parrot, Sharon and Arloc Sherman. 2006. "TANF at 10: Program Results are More Mixed
than Often Understood." Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC.
Wood, Robert G. and Justin Wheeler. 2007. “TANF at 10: Welfare Reform in New
Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.” Issue Brief, 9. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy
Research, Inc.
Jencks, Christopher, Joe Swingle and Scott Winship. 2006. “Welfare Redux”. The
American Prospect. Pp. 36-40. March.
Rank, Mark R., Hong-Sik Yoon, Thomas Hirschl. 2003. “American Poverty as a
Structural Failing: Evidence and Arguments”. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare,
December: 3-30.
Recommended
Weaver, R. Kent. 2000. Ending welfare as we know it. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution Press.
Piven, Frances Fox. 2002. “Welfare Policy and American Politics.” Pp. 19-34 in Work,
Welfare and Politics: Confronting Poverty in the Wake of Welfare Reform. Eugene:
University of Oregon Press.
Katz, Mark B. 2001. “The End of Welfare” Pp. 317-340 in The price of citizenship:
redefining America's welfare state. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Reese, Ellen and Garnett Newcombe. 2003. “Income Rights, Mothers’ Rights, or
Workers’ Rights? Collective Action Frames, Organizational Ideologies, and the
American Welfare Rights Movement.” Social Problems. 50:294-318.
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Coven, Martha. 2003. “An Introduction to TANF”. Washington DC: Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities.
Jared Bernstein and Mark Greenberg. 2001. Reforming Welfare Reform. The American
Prospect. January 1.
Mark Greenberg. 2004. “Welfare Reform, Phase Two”. The American Prospect
Online, September 1.
Moffitt, Robert. 2002. “From Welfare to Work: What the Evidence Shows.” The
Brookings Institution Policy Brief, No. 13 (January).
Weil, Alan. 2002. “Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Welfare Reform.” Urban
Institute Policy Brief, Series A, No. A-52 (May).
17. Poverty: Welfare Reform Implementation. What were the strengths and
weaknesses of welfare reform as it was implemented? Did the state-level implementation
of welfare reform match the intentions of Congress?
Hays, Sharon. 2003. Flat broke with children: women in the age of welfare reform. New
York: Oxford University Press, pp. 34-120, 215-240.
18. Poverty: The Working Poor
Zuberi, Dan. 2006. Differences That Matter. New York: ILR Press. (skip chs. 4, 7 and
8)
19. Anti-Poverty Policy: Proposals for the Future. How might we combat poverty
going forward?
Gertner, John. What is a Living Wage? New York Times Magazine, January 15, 2006
Phillippe Van Parijs. “A Basic Income for All.” Boston: Boston Review,
October/November 2000. With a response by Fred Block.
Gar Alperovitz and Thad Williamson. 2006. “A ‘Top Ten’ List of Bold Ideas.” The
Nation. Pp. 16-18. January 23.
Gar Alperovitz. 2005. “Taking the Offensive on Wealth.” The Nation. Pp. 20-22.
February 21.
Recommended
Wider Opportunities for Women. 2004. Coming Up Short: A Comparison of Wages and
Work Supports in 10 American Communities.
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Moberg, David. 2002. “Martha Jernegon’s New Shoes: The Contribution of Local
Living Wage Ordinances.” Pp. 108-121 in Kuttner, Robert. Making work pay: America
after welfare. New York: New Press.
Giddens, Anthony. 2000. "Positive Welfare." Pp. 369-379 in The Welfare State: A
Reader, edited by C. Pierson and F. G. Castles. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
Block, Fred and Jeff Manza. 1997. "Could we end poverty in a postindustrial society?
The case for a progressive negative income tax." Politics and Society 25:473-512.
van Parijs, Philippe. 2000. "Basic Income and the Two Dilemmas of the Welfare State."
Pp. 355-359 in The Welfare State: A Reader, edited by C. Pierson and F. G. Castles.
Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
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