The Politics of Poverty and Social Policy

American social policy, and the debate about poverty and inequality, are constrained by assumptions about politics: That only universal programs will win political acceptance and programs targeted toward the poor will always be poor programs. That the modest American welfare state was built in two great waves, The New Deal and The Great Society, the likes of which we’ll never see again. That tax credits and incentives are a subtler and more effective way of delivering benefits than direct government programs.

What if these assumptions are wrong? How much more imaginative could we be in rethinking the American social contract if we were not limited by the myths of the welfare state?

Christopher Howard, a professor of government at the College of William and Mary, has been a leading voice challenging these assumptions, most recently in his book, The Welfare State Nobody Knows: Debunking Myths About American Social Policy. Howard presented his views at this New America event, in a discussion that also included Mark Schmitt, a senior fellow at New America Foundation and Margy Waller of Inclusion, a new think tank focusing on social and economic issues, and a former domestic policy advisor in the Clinton White House.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

To download the working paper, Social Inclusion for the United States, please click here.

Participants

• Christopher Howard
  Professor of Government, College of William and Mary
  Author, The Welfare State Nobody Knows
• Mark Schmitt
  Senior Fellow
  New America Foundation
• Margy Waller
  Director, The Mobility Agenda
  Inclusion