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The welfare reform debate focuses on the characteristics of who gets government benefits and who pays for them. People perceive the welfare reform debate as the white middle class denying benefits to poor people of color. But larger questions regarding the U.S. lack of comprehensive social policy for health care, education, and child care lurk behind these concerns. Drawing on research with public assistance recipients and working‐ and middle‐class people, in this paper I explore the ways that people interact with and perceive government social programs. I argue that both attitudes and proposed solutions toward welfare reflect different access to government programs and resources such as jobs, savings, and social supports among people who have and have not accessed welfare. Since economic disparity in the United States correlates highly with race, the debate over welfare reform also involves racial attitudes. Changing both the welfare debate and poverty in the United States must start by providing universal benefits, [public policy, poverty, welfare reform, race, United States]

In recent years, citizens have been more frequently scrutinizing non-product related process and production methods (npr-PPM) of various products, such as food, out of moral considerations. In 2014, theWorld Trade Organization's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body reached a landmark decision and accepted an European Union (EU)-wide import ban of seal products under the justification of Art. XX (a) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) due to "public moral concerns". However, up to now there has been no valid and reliable scale to quantify moral concerns. Therefore, we developed a tool—the Moral Concerns Scale (MCS)—to measure moral concerns of a society about, for example, animal welfare or child labor in a valid and reliable manner for npr-PPM. This scale was developed and tested in two independent studies with German citizens (in 2016 and 2017) using three case studies: hens laying eggs in battery cages, the inhumane killing of seals, and the use of child labor. According to the results of both studies, the reliability and validity of the developed scale can be confirmed. ; Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2018 ; peerReviewed

This paper investigates time consistent policies and reforms of intergenerational transfers. If the weight the Government gives to the living elderly is low enough, successive Governments will implement policies with equitable results across generations, even if their social welfare function is not equitable with the unborn. The ratio of Government public debt to GDP will not change over time, and the consumption flows of successive generations will grow at the natural rate of the economy. However, if the Government gives a higher weight to the elderly, the ratio of public debt to GDP will increase over time. Then, future generations will have to pay higher and higher taxes and consume less and less. Demographic transition does not interfere with these results although it makes every consumer poorer. However, there is the possibility that the weight of the elderly in Government preferences has increased recently, and that some Western democracies are entering a process of increasing public indebtedness and immiserisation of future generations. ; Ce papier analyse les politiques et réformes dynamiquement cohérentes d'un système public de transferts intergénérationnels. Si l'Etat accorde un poids suffisamment modéré aux personnes âgées vivantes, les gouvernements successifs mettront en oeuvre des politiques donnant des résultats équitables pour les différentes générations, alors même que leurs fonctions de bien-être social ne sont pas équitables à l'égard des générations non encore nées. Le rapport de la dette publique au PIB ne changera pas au cours du temps et les consommations des générations successives croîtront au taux naturel de l'économie. Cependant, si le gouvernement donne un poids plus élevé aux personnes âgées, le rapport de la dette publique au PIB augmentera au cours du temps. Alors, les générations futures paieront des impôts de plus en plus élevés et consommeront de moins en moins. La transition démographique n'interfère pas avec ces résultats, bien qu'elle rende tous les consommateurs plus ...

This paper investigates time consistent policies and reforms of intergenerational transfers. If the weight the Government gives to the living elderly is low enough, successive Governments will implement policies with equitable results across generations, even if their social welfare function is not equitable with the unborn. The ratio of Government public debt to GDP will not change over time, and the consumption flows of successive generations will grow at the natural rate of the economy. However, if the Government gives a higher weight to the elderly, the ratio of public debt to GDP will increase over time. Then, future generations will have to pay higher and higher taxes and consume less and less. Demographic transition does not interfere with these results although it makes every consumer poorer. However, there is the possibility that the weight of the elderly in Government preferences has increased recently, and that some Western democracies are entering a process of increasing public indebtedness and immiserisation of future generations. ; Ce papier analyse les politiques et réformes dynamiquement cohérentes d'un système public de transferts intergénérationnels. Si l'Etat accorde un poids suffisamment modéré aux personnes âgées vivantes, les gouvernements successifs mettront en oeuvre des politiques donnant des résultats équitables pour les différentes générations, alors même que leurs fonctions de bien-être social ne sont pas équitables à l'égard des générations non encore nées. Le rapport de la dette publique au PIB ne changera pas au cours du temps et les consommations des générations successives croîtront au taux naturel de l'économie. Cependant, si le gouvernement donne un poids plus élevé aux personnes âgées, le rapport de la dette publique au PIB augmentera au cours du temps. Alors, les générations futures paieront des impôts de plus en plus élevés et consommeront de moins en moins. La transition démographique n'interfère pas avec ces résultats, bien qu'elle rende tous les consommateurs plus ...

Many political issues like abortion, gay marriage or assisted suicide are strongly contested because individuals have preferences not only over their own choice but also about other individuals' actions. How should society decide these issues? This paper compares three regimes (centralization, decentralization and federalism) in an economy where individuals choose their residence and vote over a single-dimensional regulatory policy at the regional and national level. The main results are: (i) A move from decentralization to federalism, called moral federalism, is welfare improving behind the veil of ignorance if and only if centralization dominates decentralization, and (ii) for the group that favors a restrictive policy moral federalism is the more attractive the smaller its group size (subject to being the majority group), the larger the suffering from a given policy, and the smaller the regions' weight in determining the federal policy limit. The results are consistent with the Bush administration's attempt to restrict liberal policy choices at the state level after its narrow election victory in 2000.

The literature developed by scholars dealing with policy agendas suggests that it is more important to look at changes in governments' priorities rather than in their ideology, and criticizes the partisan theory as inadequate. However, hypotheses based on conventional wisdom and normative theories, holding that the identity of the governing parties matters for the allocation of public expenditures, are still recurrent in the debate. And many empirical studies found mixed evidence on the importance of party ideology. Focussing on Italy (1948–2009), this article empirically tests whether shifts in governments' ideology and policy priorities are related to public spending changes in four policy sectors. The results indicate that shifts in governments' priorities are related with public spending changes in welfare and defence, while they are not relevant to explain changes in public order and education spending. Government ideology is relevant only when it comes to defence spending, but this influence can be hindered by veto players. We argue that these findings do not disprove the importance of partisan politics but warn us against relying too much on the distinction between left and right parties. At the same time, more research is needed to understand under which conditions partisan preferences translate into changing public policies.

In the policy debates about how best to assist low-income families, societal attitudes toward these families are important. Policies that are viewed favorably by the public are more likely to be implemented whether or not they are the most effective. This report examines some of the ways that public opinion is shaped. The Belief in a Just World—the psychological concept used to describe the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get—influences opinions about how much assistance should be provided to women who have difficulty making ends meet. The National Center for Children in Poverty's innovative Vignette Study tested public opinion toward government assistance by creating a female subject whose description randomly varied 11 characteristics, including whether she works or receives welfare, whether she attends school, whether she is looking for a job, and whether she sometimes skips a meal so that her family can eat. In all cases, this subject was described as the mother of two children. Respondents with a strong Belief in a Just World find women less deserving the more they act responsibly or make efforts to improve their situation. Respondents with a weak Belief in a Just World find women more deserving the more they make an effort to improve their situation. The results suggest that the belief system is challenged for people with a strong Belief in a Just World when they are presented with women who make efforts to improve their situation but still can't get ahead. In order to protect their belief system, people with a strong Belief in a Just World will devalue and blame the victim. In our sample, respondents had a range of beliefs about a just world, from strong to weak. For organizations such as the National Center for Children in Poverty, whose mission is to promote strategies to prevent child poverty and improve the lives of low-income children and their families, the need to appeal to both belief systems is crucial. Common descriptions of low-income families would increase support for aid from both groups if the threat to the general Belief in a Just World is reduced. Perhaps the best way to do this would be to highlight the systemic problems that lead to persistent economic struggles, rather than to portray the plight of individuals. For more information about how the public responds to specific characteristics of women who face economic struggles mediated by a strong or weak belief in a just world and research citations, please refer to the full text of the report, available to the right.

As a consequence of changing patterns of family formation and dissolution in the western world, national welfare institutions confront new demands to accommodate such issues as disproportionate poverty risks among single-mother families, increased requirements for non-parental child care arrangements, and the regulation of child maintenance and support. This paper documents and analyzes the most important social and legal provisions and changes in the United States since the 1980s with implications for the well-being of separated parents and their children, starting with alimony reform legislation to maternity and parental leave programs. It concludes that compared to Germany the institutional and financial support of lowincome custodial parents, the majority of whom are women, is still rather limited. While family-friendly policies -most of them based on employment and the tax system- have been expanded since the 1980s, the US welfare systems provides less financial and legal assistance to vulnerable families with children.

The article explores how enlargement of the European Union has affected the development of the European public sphere. At the initial stage of enlargement, communication between the `old' and `new' democracies was hampered by prejudice and estrangement from the western side and illusionary expectations from the eastern side. Different historical experiences after the Second World War had raised barriers to mutual understanding. While experiences of `building capitalism' brought post-Communist nations closer to the values of the European welfare society, the eastwards enlargement at the same time strengthened the influence of identity politics among the `old' democracies of Europe. As a result, there is now less difference between the `old' and 'new' members of the EU than was expected at the beginning of the enlargement process. The new members of the EU are even more interested in the development of the European public sphere than are many people in the West, because they see in this process their chance to be included in the European communication space as equal members. In order to reach this goal, the process of `horizontal integration' between national public spheres and the development of the common social imaginary of the new Europe is considered to be very important. ■

Sustainment of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in human services depends on the inner context of community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services and the outer context of their broader environment. Increasingly, public officials are experimenting with contracting models from for-profit industries to procure human services. In this case study, we conducted qualitative interviews with key government and CBO stakeholders to examine implementation of the Best Value-Performance Information Procurement System to contract for EBIs in a child welfare system. Findings suggest that stakeholder relationships may be compromised when procurement disregards local knowledge, communication, collaboration, and other factors supporting EBIs and public health initiatives.

The food stamp and commodity distribution programs both attempt to provide nutritional aid to the domestic poor. This makes them welfare programs. But they also represent efforts to make use of excess farm production. This means they are agricultural surplus disposal programs. Although both programs claim an ability to provide both services, commodity distribution is thought to be the better surplus removal method, while food stamps are preferred as a welfare program. The history of these two programs illustrates the conflict between a preference for welfare and a preference for surplus disposal, and the compromises which were made between them. It is the story of a political power struggle which began during the Great Depression. In the three decades which followed, agriculture's power waned and welfare power increased. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the functioning of the various government institutions as illustrated by their handing of these two programs. Naturally, some of the observations pertain specifically to these two programs, to agriculture and to welfare. Others, such as voting behavior, logrolling, and political rhetoric are more representative of government in general. Evidence concerning political deals proved to be quite interesting. This vote-trading, or logrolling, is an accepted part of the legislative process, but it does not enjoy what could be described as a "good reputation," even among the traders. Various studies have made use of simple or complex analyses of recorded voting behavior. But these cannot tell the whole story. Committee hearings and floor debates provide a different insight into the motives behind legislators' actions. The final vote on a bill may not be as revealing as the efforts to pass amendments. In other words, the type of amendment can show motivations which voting behavior does not. If a legislator finds he must vote for a program which he really does not support, as part of a deal for example, he may try to weaken the bill. While a food stamp bill finally passed in 1959, it only gave permission for the Secretary of Agriculture to act. It was no secret that he had no intention of using food stamps. In addition to the analysis of the historical events, there is a chapter highlighting some of the program's operating regulations and one which examines some of the program's effects on various sectors of the economy. An amended version of the Food Stamp Act is found in the Appendix. ; Ph. D.

The M. H. Ross Papers contain information pertaining to labor, politics, social issues of the twentieth century, coal mining and its resulting lifestyle, as well as photographs and audio materials. The collection is made up of five different accessions; L2001-05, which is contained in boxes one through 104, L2002-09 in boxes 106 through 120, L2006-16 in boxes 105 and 120, L2001-01 in boxes 120-121, and L2012-20 in boxes 122-125. The campaign materials consist of items from the 1940 and 1948 political campaigns in which Ross participated. These items include campaign cards, posters, speech transcripts, news clippings, rally materials, letters to voters, and fliers. Organizing and arbitration materials covers labor organizing events from "Operation Dixie" in Georgia, the furniture workers in North Carolina, and the Mine-Mill workers in the Western United States. Organizing materials include fliers, correspondence, news articles, radio transcripts, and some related photos. Arbitration files consist of agreements, decisions, and agreement booklets. The social and political research files cover a wide time period (1930's to the late 1970's/early 1980's). The topics include mainly the Ku Klux Klan, racism, Communism, Red Scare, red baiting, United States history, and literature. These files consist mostly of news and journal articles. Ross interacted with coal miners while doing work for the United Mine Workers Association (UMWA) and while working at the Fairmont Clinic in West Virginia. Included in these related files are books, news articles, journals, UMWA reports, and coal miner oral histories conducted by Ross. Tying in to all of the activities Ross participated in during his life were his research and manuscript files. He wrote numerous newspaper and journal articles on history and labor. Later, as he worked for the UMWA and at the Fairmont Clinic, he wrote more in-depth articles about coal miners, their lifestyle, and medical problems they faced (while the Southern Labor Archives has many of Ross's coal mining and lifestyle articles, it does not have any of his medical articles). Along with these articles are the research files Ross collected to write them, which consist of notes, books, and newspaper and journal articles. In additional to his professional career, Ross was adamant about documenting his and his wife's family history in the oral history format. Of particular interest are the recordings of his interviews with his wife's family - they were workers, musicians, and singers of labor and folk songs. Finally, in this collection are a number of photographs and slides, which include images of organizing, coal mining (from the late 19th through 20th centuries), and Appalachia. Of note is a small photo album from the 1930s which contains images from the Summer School for Workers, and more labor organizing. A few audio items are available as well, such as Ross political speeches and an oral history in which Ross was interviewed by his daughter, Jane Ross Davis in 1986. All photographic and audio-visual materials are at the end of their respective series. ; Myron Howard "Mike" Ross was born November 9, 1919 in New York City. He dropped out of school when he was seventeen and moved to Texas, where he worked on a farm. From 1936 until 1939, Ross worked in a bakery in North Carolina. In the summer of 1938, he attended the Southern School for Workers in Asheville, North Carolina. During the fall of 1938, Ross would attend the first Southern Conference on Human Welfare in Birmingham, Alabama. He would attend this conference again in 1940 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. From 1939 to 1940, Ross worked for the United Mine Workers Non-Partisan League in North Carolina, working under John L. Lewis. He was hired as a union organizer by the United Mine Workers of America, and sent to Saltville, Virginia and Rockwood, Tennessee. In 1940, Ross ran for a seat on city council on the People's Platform in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this time, he also married Anne "Buddie" West of Kennesaw, Georgia. From 1941 until 1945, Ross served as an infantryman for the United States Army. He sustained injuries near the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. From 1945 until 1949, Ross worked for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, then part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), as a union organizer. He was sent to Macon, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia and to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he worked with the United Furniture Workers Union. He began handling arbitration for the unions. In 1948, Ross ran for United States Congress on the Progressive Party ticket in North Carolina. He also served as the secretary for the North Carolina Progressive Party. Ross attended the University of North Carolina law school from 1949 to 1952. He graduated with honors but was denied the bar on the grounds of "character." From 1952 until 1955, he worked for the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers as a union organizer, first in New Mexico (potash mines) and then in Arizona (copper mines). From 1955 to 1957, Ross attended the Columbia University School of Public Health. He worked for the United Mine Workers of America Welfare and Retirement Fund from 1957 to 1958, where he represented the union in expenditure of health care for mining workers. By 1958, Ross began plans for what would become the Fairmont Clinic, a prepaid group practice in Fairmont, West Virginia, which had the mission of providing high quality medical care for miners and their families. From 1958 until 1978, Ross served as administrator of the Fairmont Clinic. As a result of this work, Ross began researching coal mining, especially coal mining lifestyle, heritage and history of coal mining and disasters. He would interview over one hundred miners (coal miners). Eventually, Ross began writing a manuscript about the history of coal mining. Working for the Rural Practice Program of the University of North Carolina from 1980 until 1987, Ross taught in the medical school. M. H. Ross died on January 31, 1987 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. ; Digitization of the M. H. Ross Papers was funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.