Welfare, Work, and Poverty
PSC 2224
Fall 2012
Prof. Stoker
413 Government
994-5831
stoker@gwu.edu
Course Overview
Many of the social and political problems our society must confront are related to poverty.
Whether “the problem” is unemployment, income security, poor health, affordable housing, crime
and delinquency, urban redevelopment, or poor educational performance, many of our social
problems are manifestations of the effects of poverty. Social welfare policies are supposed to
protect people from poverty or (at least) mitigate poverty’s effects. This course describes the
major elements of America’s social welfare policies and examines how the system relates to work
and poverty.
This course describes the elements and the politics of America’s welfare state. Political
rhetoric in the U.S. distinguishes “welfare” and “social insurance” programs. People who receive
welfare benefits are viewed negatively by many members of the public. However, people who
receive social insurance benefits are typically viewed favorably. This difference may be
attributed to the fact that (to some extent) people “earn” social insurance benefits by making
contributions from dedicated payroll taxes they pay as they work. Welfare benefits, on the other
hand, are means-tested transfer payments made to specific groups of needy people. Welfare cash
benefits are particularly controversial because they assist able-bodied individuals and may
undermine work incentives. Hence, welfare recipients are viewed by many members of the
public as people don’t accept personal responsibility, won’t work, and prefer to get by on
government handouts. However, we will discover that the distinction between welfare and social
security is exaggerated. Many of the benefits provided by the social insurance programs are not
“earned” through payroll tax contributions and many people who receive welfare benefits are also
workers who drift in and out of the welfare system as their job prospects vary.
Another important distinction is drawn between social welfare programs (visible efforts
by the government to provide services to advance social welfare) and the tax expenditures that
compose the “hidden welfare state.” Many of the most important and expensive U.S. social
policies are subsidies that are distributed through the income tax system. Finally, consideration
of the American welfare state would be incomplete without mentioning corporate welfare benefits
that are subsidized and regulated by the government. Tax expenditures and corporate welfare are
more difficult for citizens to detect and understand because the benefits are quietly distributed
through regulations or provisions of tax law. With the exception of the Earned Income Tax
Credit, social policy benefits that are distributed through the tax system tend to do more to assist
affluent people. Corporate welfare benefits also tilt the distribution of benefits toward the
affluent. Thus, in contrast to widespread public beliefs that the poor are the primary beneficiaries
of the American welfare state, many of the most expensive welfare policies subsidize welfare
benefits for the affluent rather than redistributing income to the needy.
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Required textbook
Jacob S. Hacker, The Divided Welfare State, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Other required readings are available through the blackboard system or available online
through hyperlinks embedded in the syllabus. Sources for all of the required readings are
identified in the course outline. Students are expected to complete the required readings in
advance of scheduled class meetings.
Course Requirements
The course requirements are at least seven unannounced quizzes (your best five will
count toward your final grade) that will cover the required readings, class presentations, or media
(5 percent for each, 25 percent of the final grade in all), a midterm exam (35 percent of the final
grade), and a comprehensive final exam that emphasizes material after the mid-term (40 percent
of the final grade). The exams will cover class presentations, discussions, and required readings.
The exams will be composed of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. Review
guides with question topics will be distributed before the exams.
There are no make-up quizzes… if you miss a quiz you will receive a score of zero.
However, there will be more than 5 quizzes and you will be able to drop your lowest scores from
the computation of your final average.
Learning Objectives
 Students should understand poverty in the U.S. and how it has changed over time.
 Students should understand the design and distributive implications of the major social
welfare programs and policies in the U.S., including means-tested transfer programs,
social insurance programs, tax provisions that compose the hidden welfare state, and
corporate welfare benefits.
 Students should be able to critically examine the distinction between welfare and social
insurance programs.
 Students should understand the important policy changes that were made by the federal
welfare reform of 1996.
 Students should understand the social security financial crisis and its relationship to fiscal
strains the federal government must confront.
 Students should understand how path dependency and policy feedback effects influence
stability and change in U.S. social policies.
 Students should understand the political effects of policies on target groups, interest
groups, political elites, and the mass public.
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Course Outline
(1) Poverty in America. This section describes poverty in the U.S. (8/30 and 9/4).
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Poverty today: read the Census report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance
Coverage in the U.S.: 2009,” for the latest income and poverty statistics in the
U.S., find it online:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf
-
The federal budget: How do we spend federal tax dollars? See the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities Report (follow the hyperlink below):
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1258
Poverty during the depression…required film to view:
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The Grapes of Wrath (1940, starring Henry Fonda, directed by John Ford). You
must find a copy of this film to view. You may access the film wherever you can;
however, this link worked in August:
http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/player/gorillavid.php?id=0f7oxhg6v8iv
If that link is now disabled, search for the movie on this website:
http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/
-
Discussion of depression, migration, and poverty in the 1930s. The film will be
discussed on 9/4.
(2) Social Insurance Programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment assistance. (9/6
through 9/20)
(a) The Social Security program (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance).
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Read the Social Security Act of 1935, follow this hyperlink:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/35act.html
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Read the Congressional Research Service reports on the history of the Social Security
program and disability programs(follow this hyperlink to find it):
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL30565_20000518.pdf
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32279_20080108.pdf
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Read the guidebook on benefit calculations from the Social Security Administration,
follow the hyperlink below:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ProgData/retirebenefit1.html
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-
How generous are Social Security benefits? See the center on Budget and Policy
Priorities report (follow the hyperlink below):
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3368
(b) Medicare.
-
Read the Congressional Research Service report “Medicare: A primer” (use the
hyperlink below to access it).
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33712_20080801.pdf
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Follow this hyperlink to read the Medicare Handbook for additional program
information:
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10050.pdf
(c) Unemployment Insurance.
-
Read the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities overview of unemployment
insurance:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1466
-
Read the Congressional Research Service report about assistance for the unemployed:
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33362_20081126.pdf
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Follow these hyperlinks for statistical information about trends in unemployment:
http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&seri
es_id=LNS14000000
(3) The Social Security financial crisis? One of the most significant public policy issues that
will be decided during your lifetime will be management of the financial burdens of social
insurance programs that provide pension and health care benefits for the elderly. (9/25)
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Follow the hyperlink below to read the Social Security Trustees Report:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/index.html
(4) Welfare programs: TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), medical assistance
(including Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs), SNAP (formerly
known as food stamps), and SSI (Supplemental Security Income). (9/27 through 10/11).
(a) TANF. Read the Introduction to TANF from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
(use the hyperlink below):
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=936
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-
Read the Congressional Research Service report on TANF (Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families), available online (use the hyperlink below).
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32760_20081219.pdf
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R41078_20101006.pdf
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Read Wiseman and Kairys’ analysis of TANF and workfare, this paper is available in
the Electronic Reserves section of the Blackboard.
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Read the report critiquing TANF from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
(use the hyperlink below):
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http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3700
(b) Medicaid: Read the Congressional Research Service report on Medicaid (follow the
hyperlink below):
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32950_20100407.pdf
-
Read the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report on Medicaid expenditures:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2223
(c) Food Stamps: Read the food stamp program’s history and SNAP information brochure,
follow these hyperlinks:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/rules/Legislation/about.htm
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Read the introduction to SNAP and the report on benefit generosity from the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities (follow the link below):
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2226
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1269
(d) Read program information about SSI (the Supplemental Security Income program),
follow these hyperlinks:
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/94-486_20080108.pdf
http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm
http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-benefits-ussi.htm
(e) Immigrant eligibility for federal benefits. Read the Congressional Research Service
report on Noncitizens eligibility for federal benefits (use the hyperlink below).
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http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33809_20101214.pdf
(5) Summary: America’s welfare programs. (10/16). Does Grammy get welfare? This section
examines the historical development of welfare and social insurance. The historical development
of social insurance programs shows that the distinction between social insurance and welfare that
is essential to many American’s attitudes toward social policy is less clear than one might think.
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Read Edward Berkowitz, “The Triumph of Social Security, 1936-1954,” chapter 3 in
America’s Welfare State from Roosevelt to Reagan. This reading is available on the
Blackboard.
Midterm Exam on 10/18
(6) Health care reform: What happened? What’s next? (10/23)

Follow the hyperlink below to read the Congressional Research Service report on
issues related to health care reform:
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40517_20090414.pdf
(7) Tax Provisions. Tax policies also influence social welfare by subsidizing pensions, health
care, education, and housing. (10/25 through 11/8).

The “Private” Welfare System that is supported tax and regulatory policies. Read
Howard, “The Hidden Side of the American Welfare State,” Political Science
Quarterly, 108, 3, 1993: 403-436. This reading is available on the Blackboard.

Read the CBO reports on the tax system, follow the hyperlink below:
http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43373-06-11HouseholdIncomeandFedTaxes.pdf
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/119xx/doc11976/2010-12-02_IncomeTax_chartbook.pdf

Read the report from the Tax Policy Center, follow the hyperlink below:
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/currentdistribution.cfm

Read the IRS publication about the Earned Income Tax Credit, follow the hyperlink
below:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf
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(8) The Politics of Health and Pension Policy. (11/13 through 11/27)
Read Jacob Hacker, The Divided Welfare State.
(9) The Politics of Social Policy. (11/29 and 12/4)
(a) Policy feedback: This subsection explores some of the ways that policies change
politics.
- Read Schneider and Ingram: “The Social Construction of Target Populations,”
American Political Science Review 89, 2, 1995, on the blackboard.
- Read Joe Soss, “Lessons of Welfare: Policy Design, Political Learning, and
Political Action,” American Political Science Review, 93, 1999, on the
blackboard.
- Read Martin Gilens, “’Race Coding’ and White Opposition to Welfare,”
America Political Science Review 90, 3, 1996, on the blackboard.
(b) The politics of social policy retrenchment. This subsection describes the distinctive
politics that occur when social policy benefits are taken away.
- Read Paul Pierson, “The New Politics of the Welfare State,” World Politics 48,
2, 1996, on the blackboard.
- Read Kent Weaver, “The Politics of Blame Avoidance,” Journal of Public
Policy 6, 4, 1986, on the blackboard.
(10) The future of America’s welfare state. (12/6)
- Welfare retrenchment, deficit reduction, taxes and the American welfare state.
Final Exam schedule is to be announced. Do not make travel plans that conflict with the
required examination date.
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