Welfare Policy for the People by the People; The Paradox in American Social Citizenship.
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2016-07-20
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en
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Abstract
Social policy has the primary function in society to prevent those who are pushed out of the labor force from starvation. Social policy works as a shock absorber for life’s risks such as illness, old age, unemployed, becoming disabled. Most countries in this world have some sort of system of social programs to absorb these shocks for their citizens. The extent of how much of the shocks that will be absorbed by their government varies and is subject to economics and politics. The United States also has a system of social programs that absorb some of the shocks life throws at American citizens. When compared to other developed nations in the West, the United States forms a category of its own with its own principles and views on the role of both the government and social policy in Americans’ lives.
This paper will map out the emergence of nationwide social programs in the United States evolving from local private charities in the nineteenth century up and till the contemporary policies with a specific focus on welfare. Linked to social policy is the concept of citizenship. Throughout history we see this concept and its ensuing rights and duties being redefined as a result of changing political and economic climates. The question that is asked over and over again when redefining the paradigm of citizenship is: who deserves help? As American society grew more complex over time so grew the answer to that question more and more complex. The result is an amalgamation of programs that have their own conditions to be met in order to qualify for assistance.
Key words: social policy, private charity, T.M. Marshall, social citizenship, ADC, AFDC, TANF,
Neoliberalism, social security, Social Security Act, Lebron v. Wilkins, drug screening, Reagan, Clinton.
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