The Institutional Origins of"Workfarist" Social Policy

In: Studies in American political development, Band 21, Heft 2, S. 203-229

Abstract

Challenges previous interpretations of the development, reform, & retrenchment of federal antipoverty policy in the US, highlighting the rise of modern "workfarism" & the decline of New Deal "welfarism" Focusing on three key pieces of legislation passed 1971-1975 -- the Talmadge Work Incentive Initiative (WINN II), Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI), & the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- the role of Republican & Democratic legislators in the redesign of public assistance is reassessed; congressional voting data are presented for each measure. It is shown that, contrary to popular belief, the shift from a welfarist to a workfarist model was initiated by Southern Congressional democrats, not the New Deal or Great Society liberals, beginning in the late 1960s. Tables. K. Hyatt Stewart