Life after Welfare: Reform and the Persistence of Poverty
Author: Laura Lein
In the decade since President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 into lawamidst promises that it would "end welfare as we know it"have the reforms ending entitlements and moving toward time limits and work requirements lifted Texas families once living on welfare out of poverty, or merely stricken their names from the administrative rolls?
Under welfare reform, Texas has continued with low monthly payments and demanding eligibility criteria. Many families who could receive welfare in other states do not qualify in Texas, and virtually any part-time job makes a family ineligible. In Texas, most families who leave welfare remain in or near poverty, and many are likely to return to the welfare rolls in the future.
This compelling work, which follows 179 families after leaving welfare, is set against a backdrop of multiple types of data and econometric modeling. The authors' multi-method approach draws on administrative data from nine programs serving low-income families and a statewide survey of families who have left welfare. Survey data on health problems, transportation needs, and child-care issues shed light on the patterns of employment and welfare use seen in the administrative data. In their lives after welfare, the families chronicled here experience poverty even when employed; a multiplicity of barriers to employment that work to exacerbate one another; and a failing safety net of basic human services as they attempt to sustain low-wage employment.
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Political Science: A Comparative Introduction
Author: Rod Hagu
Long established as the leading text in the field, the 7th edition has been comprehensively updated, revised and rewritten throughout. A new chapter has been added on Political Economy and the classification system used to compare states has been recast to distinguish liberal and illiberal democracies as well as contrasting these with authoritarian regimes. Lively, accessible, student-friendly and truly international in its coverage, the 7th edition includes a substantially enhanced range of case studies, debate boxes, charts and tables.
Table of Contents:
List of illustrative material ixPreface xiii
Guide to learning features xv
Guide to profiles xvi
Foundations
Politics and government 3
Politics 3
Government 4
Classifying governments 6
Governance 9
Power 10
Authority and legitimacy 11
The state and sovereignty 13
Nations and nationalism 17
Learning resources 22
The state in a global context 23
Emergence 23
Expansion and restructuring 26
The post-colonial state 29
Collapsed states and state building 32
Globalization and the state 36
Learning resources 42
Democracy 43
Direct democracy 43
Deliberative democracy 46
Representative democracy 48
Liberal and illiberal democracy 49
Waves of democratization 52
Learning resources 59
Authoritarian rule 61
Communist states 65
Fascist states 72
Personal despots 73
Military government 74
Other party states 76
Royal families 77
Theocracy 78
Ruling presidents 80
Learning resources 82
The comparative approach 83
Why compare? 83
What to compare 85
How to compare 89
Avoiding the pitfalls 94
Learning resources 99
Politics and Society
Political culture 103
Political culture in liberal democracies 103
Political culture in authoritarian states 110
Political culture in illiberal democracies 112
Elite political culture 113
A clash of civilizations? 116
Learning resources 120
Political communication 121
Development of the mass media 122
The media: contemporary trends 124
The media in liberal democracies 128
Public opinion 134
The media in authoritarian states 137
The media in illiberal democracies 139
Learning resources 141
Political economy 143
What is political economy? 143
Varieties of capitalism 146
Convergence? 150
The political economies of authoritarian states 152
The political economies of illiberal democracies 157
Learning resources 161
Linking Society and Government
Political participation 165
Participation in liberal democracies 165
Social movements 168
Participation in authoritarian states 172
Participation in illiberal democracies 174
Participation in political violence 175
Revolution 179
Learning resources 184
Elections and voters 185
Scope and franchise 185
Electoral systems: legislatures 186
Electoral systems: presidents 194
Referendums 198
Turnout 200
Voting behaviour 203
Elections in authoritarian states 205
Elections in illiberal democracies 206
Learning resources 208
Interest groups 209
Classifying interest groups 210
Interest groups in liberal democracies 212
Channels of influence 216
Conditions of influence 220
Interest groups in authoritarian states 223
Interest groups in illiberal democracies 227
Learning resources 229
Political parties 231
Party organization 232
Selecting candidates and leaders 235
Membership and finance 237
The waning social base 241
Party systems 244
Parties in authoritarian states 250
Parties in illiberal democracies 253
Learning resources 255
Government and Policy
Constitutions and the legal framework 259
Constitutions 260
Judicial review and constitutional courts 263
Judicial activism 268
Judicial independence and recruitment 272
Administrative law 273
Law in authoritarian states 275
Law in illiberal democracies 277
The impact of international law 278
Learning resources 280
Multilevel governance 231
What is multilevel governance? 281
Federalism 282
Unitary states 290
Local government 294
Central-local relations in authoritarian states 299
Central-local relations in illiberal democracies 300
Learning resources 303
Legislatures 305
Structure 305
Functions 309
Recruitment 318
Membership 319
Legislatures in authoritarian states 324
Legislatures in illiberal democracies 326
Learning resources 328
The political executive 329
Presidential government 329
Parliamentary government 336
Semi-presidential government 344
The executive in authoritarian states 348
The executive in illiberal democracies 351
Learning resources 353
Public management and administration 355
Evolution of the public sector 355
Recruitment to the public sector 357
Organization of the public sector 358
Control and accountability 364
New public management 366
Public management in authoritarian states 368
Public management in illiberal democracies 372
Learning resources 375
Public policy 377
Initiation and formulation 378
Implementation 381
Evaluation and review 382
Policy instruments 384
Public policy in liberal democracies 386
Public policy in authoritarian states 391
Public policy in illiberal democracies 392
Learning resources 395
References 397
Index 427