Suchergebnisse

Between 1971 and 1975, congressional leaders quietly transformed the character and politics of public assistance in the United States. Three legislative initiatives were passed in quick succession and with little debate—the Talmadge Work Incentive amendments (WIN II), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Although they drew little attention at the time, their combined impact was significant in two respects. First, by redefining the terms and target populations of income assistance, they established the elements of a workfarist approach to federal antipoverty policy, one that turned the ends and means of federal assistance away from traditional needs-based New Deal welfarism and toward the principle of rewarding, encouraging, and enforcing work. In addition, the initiatives helped to create the political capacity for subsequent retrenchment of traditional welfare programs, notably Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

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