Suchergebnisse

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- About the Author -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1. A Time of Contradiction -- Chapter 2. The Market Recedes, Government Responds -- Chapter 3. We Are All Beneficiaries Now -- Chapter 4. Different Lenses -- Chapter 5. Unequal Voice -- Chapter 6. Reconnecting Citizens and Government -- Appendix A. Design and Procedures for the Social and Governmental Issues and Participation Study -- Appendix B. Questionnaire for the Social and Governmental Issues and Participation Study -- Appendix C. Survey Response Rate and Comparison to Existing Studies -- Appendix D. Interview Schedule for Open-Ended Phone Interviews -- Appendix E. Additional Chapter 4 and 5 Tables -- Appendix F. T-Tests of Kentucky Voter Turnout -- Notes -- References -- Index

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Preface -- Abbreviations Used in the Text and Notes -- Chapter One. Structured Governance and Citizenship in the New Deal -- Chapter Two. From Dual Federalism to a New Deal -- Chapter Three. The Formation of Old Age Insurance and Old Age Assistance -- Chapter Four. The Development and Implementation of Old Age Insurance and Old Age Assistance -- Chapter Five. The Formation of Unemployment Insurance and Aid to Dependent Children -- Chapter Six. The Development and Implementation of Unemployment Insurance and Aid to Dependent Children -- Chapter Seven. The Formation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 -- Chapter Eight. The Implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 -- Chapter Nine. Divided Citizens -- Index

"Keep your government hands off my Medicare!" Such comments spotlight a central question animating Suzanne Mettler's provocative and timely book: why are many Americans unaware of government social benefits and so hostile to them in principle, even though they receive them? The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Mettler argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the "submerged state." In recent decades, federal po.

The generation that benefitted from GI Bill showed a commitment to the principles of democracy and civic involvement. This book looks at how Bill affected the lives of World War II Veterans. It develops an argument about the link between peoples' positive experiences with government programs and their willingness to take part in public life

Public policies sometimes generate "policy feedback effects," reshaping public opinion and political participation among beneficiaries or the public generally, often with the effects of generating supportive constituencies that help to sustain the program. Yet such effects do not always occur; in fact, despite that Americans use more social policies than ever, antipathy to government runs high—evidence of a seeming "government-citizen disconnect." Policy design and delivery matters for policy feedback, as policies that make government's role more visible may make more of an impression on beneficiaries; yet political polarization and distrust in government can interfere with such effects. In addition, those who are most aware of the government's role in social provision often participate least in politics, and vice versa. This article considers strategies that public officials and other civic and political leaders can use to facilitate policy feedback effects.

Contemporary political life takes place amid a "policyscape," a landscape densely laden with policies created in the past that have themselves become established institutions, bearing consequences for governing operations, the policy agenda, and political behavior. Far from being static, policies often develop over time in ways that could not have been foreseen by their creators, due to dynamics they themselves generate, including design effects, unintended consequences, and lateral effects. Owing to such dynamics, existing policies require upkeep and maintenance if they are to continue to function well. The extent to which lawmakers engage effectively in such work varies, however, depending on the fit between the demands of the policyscape and the attributes of the historical political context. Bipartisan reform efforts occurred in many policy areas as recently as the early 1990s. More recently, partisan polarization and other developments have undermined such political capacity, leaving numerous policies untended for long periods and in many instances, even formal reauthorization long overdue. A cursory overview of policies associated with Americans' top 20 policy priorities reveals that more than half are subject to deferred maintenance. The mismatch between the demands of the policyscape and the character of contemporary politics imperils effective democratic governance.

A few decades ago, going to college seemed to be the surest route to the American dream, a path to greater opportunity for most young people. Yet today the U.S. system of higher education is evolving into a caste system with separate and unequal tiers. To be sure, more students from all backgrounds attend college and graduate with valuable degrees. But far too many from low-income and middle-class families depart early with no degrees and crippling levels of student debt. U.S. higher education as a whole is increasingly reinforcing rather than reducing class differences and federal and state government policies need to change course. In this context, the author draws some insights and analysis about the question how U.S. higher education promotes inequality? and what can be done to broaden access and graduation? ; Scholars Strategy Network

President Barack Obama came into office with a social welfare policy agenda that aimed to reconstitute what can be understood as the "submerged state": a conglomeration of existing federal policies that incentivize and subsidize activities engaged in by private actors and individuals. By attempting to restructure the political economy involved in taxation, higher education policy, and health care, Obama ventured into a policy terrain that presents immense obstacles to reform itself and to the public's perception of its success. Over time the submerged state has fostered the profitability of particular industries and induced them to increase their political capacity, which they have exercised in efforts to maintain the status quo. Yet the submerged state simultaneously eludes most ordinary citizens: they have little awareness of its policies or their upwardly redistributive effects, and few are cognizant of what is at stake in reform efforts. This article shows how, in each of the three policy areas, the contours and dynamics of the submerged state have shaped the possibilities for reform and the form it has taken, the politics surrounding it, and its prospects for success. While the Obama Administration won hard-fought legislative accomplishments in each area, political success will continue to depend on how well policy design, policy delivery and political communication reveal policy reforms to citizens, so that they better understand how reforms function and what has been achieved.