Neo-Isolationism, Balanced-Budget Conservatism, and the Fiscal Impacts of Immigrants

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1031-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Huber ◽  
Thomas J. Espenshade
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Fiscal Impacts ◽  
Balanced Budget ◽  
American Society ◽  
Fiscal Conservatism ◽  
Legal Immigrants

A rise in neo-isolationism in the United States has given encouragement to a new fiscal politics of immigration. Growing anti-immigrant sentiment has coalesced with forces of fiscal conservatism to make immigrants an easy target of budget cuts. Limits on legal alien access to social welfare programs that are contained in the 1996 welfare and immigration reform acts seem motivated not so much by a guiding philosophy of what it means to be a member of American society as by a desire to shrink the size of the federal government and to produce a balanced budget. Even more than in the past, the consequence of a shrinking welfare state is to metamorphose legal immigrants from public charges to windfall gains for the federal treasury.

Sorting Out the Mixed Economy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy C. Offner
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
New Deal ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Associations ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
The Road ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The New Deal

In the years after 1945, a flood of U.S. advisors swept into Latin America with dreams of building a new economic order and lifting the Third World out of poverty. These businessmen, economists, community workers, and architects went south with the gospel of the New Deal on their lips, but Latin American realities soon revealed unexpected possibilities within the New Deal itself. In Colombia, Latin Americans and U.S. advisors ended up decentralizing the state, privatizing public functions, and launching austere social welfare programs. By the 1960s, they had remade the country's housing projects, river valleys, and universities. They had also generated new lessons for the United States itself. When the Johnson administration launched the War on Poverty, U.S. social movements, business associations, and government agencies all promised to repatriate the lessons of development, and they did so by multiplying the uses of austerity and for-profit contracting within their own welfare state. A decade later, ascendant right-wing movements seeking to dismantle the midcentury state did not need to reach for entirely new ideas: they redeployed policies already at hand. This book brings readers to Colombia and back, showing the entanglement of American societies and the contradictory promises of midcentury statebuilding. The untold story of how the road from the New Deal to the Great Society ran through Latin America, the book also offers a surprising new account of the origins of neoliberalism.

Government Programs Can Reduce Poverty

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-123
Author(s):  
Mark Robert Rank ◽  
Lawrence M. Eppard ◽  
Heather E. Bullock
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Poverty Rate ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Transfer Rates ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
The Social

Chapter 15 provides an analysis of the effectiveness of social welfare programs in reducing poverty. Comparing pretransfer with post-transfer rates of poverty across a range of OECD countries demonstrates that poverty can be substantially reduced. The myth that government programs do not work in addressing poverty is simply incorrect. A number of European countries are able to cut their rates of poverty by up to 80 percent as a result of robust social policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality. In the United States, the Social Security and Medicare programs have been particularly effective in reducing the poverty rate among the elderly population.

Inequality and U.S. Public Opinion on Foreign Aid

World Affairs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-295
Author(s):  
Hak-Seon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
American Society ◽  
Social Safety Nets

I investigate how the level of inequality affects American public opinion on foreign aid. As the level of inequality increases across the United States, the majority of the public will be more likely to demand the government implement policies that should ameliorate severe inequality in society. Assuming that government resources are limited, a greater level of inequality in American society may weaken public support for foreign aid because the public may prioritize providing social safety nets and welfare programs in domestic milieu over granting foreign aid to developing countries. In addition, as inequality widens, the public may perceive economic globalization as one of the main causes of inequality; thus, their overall support for globalization will decline. As a result, American support for global engagement will be negatively affected, and public support for foreign aid may decrease. An empirical test using public opinion data in 50 U.S. states since the 1980s confirms my theory: widening inequality both across states and within a given state does weaken public support for U.S. foreign aid.

Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin I. Page ◽  
Larry M. Bartels ◽  
Jason Seawright
Keyword(s):  
Political Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Regulation ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Net Worth ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Government

It is important to know what wealthy Americans seek from politics and how (if at all) their policy preferences differ from those of other citizens. There can be little doubt that the wealthy exert more political influence than the less affluent do. If they tend to get their way in some areas of public policy, and if they have policy preferences that differ significantly from those of most Americans, the results could be troubling for democratic policy making. Recent evidence indicates that “affluent” Americans in the top fifth of the income distribution are socially more liberal but economically more conservative than others. But until now there has been little systematic evidence about the truly wealthy, such as the top 1 percent. We report the results of a pilot study of the political views and activities of the top 1 percent or so of US wealth-holders. We find that they are extremely active politically and that they are much more conservative than the American public as a whole with respect to important policies concerning taxation, economic regulation, and especially social welfare programs. Variation within this wealthy group suggests that the top one-tenth of 1 percent of wealth-holders (people with $40 million or more in net worth) may tend to hold still more conservative views that are even more distinct from those of the general public. We suggest that these distinctive policy preferences may help account for why certain public policies in the United States appear to deviate from what the majority of US citizens wants the government to do. If this is so, it raises serious issues for democratic theory.

Evil Abroad and at Home

2021 ◽  
pp. 247-268
Author(s):  
Kathleen Wellman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
World Government ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
American Capitalism ◽  
Christian Conservatives ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Actions

This chapter revisits the Cold War world, divided between capitalists and communists, a conflict that these curricula cast as a good-versus-evil morality play. American evangelicals allied with the Republican Party. They connected religion and corporate capitalism and rejected Democrats as New Deal socialists. These curricula praise Joseph McCarthy’s campaign to root out communism in the United States and condemn internationalism, especially the United Nations, as fostering a totalitarian, one-world government. They see the United States’ wars in Korea and Vietnam as insufficiently committed to the fight against communism. These textbooks weigh whether other nations developed collective political actions or social welfare programs; they deplore both as socialism or incipient communism. Decolonization made new parts of the world ripe for American capitalism or Soviet communism. They and their leaders were good or evil depending on whether they subscribed to the agenda of Christian conservatives.

scholarly journals Authoritarianism, Prejudice, and Support for Welfare Chauvinism in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Jason Kehrberg
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Waiting Period ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Welfare Attitudes ◽  
Legal Immigrants

AbstractThis article examines the role of authoritarianism in shaping individual policy support for creating a waiting period before legal immigrants can access welfare programs. I use logistic regression models to analyse the opinions of non-Latino whites from the 1992 American National Election Study (ANES). I find that authoritarianism is related to a waiting period before immigrants can access welfare benefits, despite a significant number of non-authoritarians also preferring a waiting period. This effect is robust with the inclusion of several traditional predictors of welfare attitudes.

Impairment and Disability Compensation Systems in the United States

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mohammed I. Ranavaya ◽  
James B. Talmage
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Workers Compensation ◽  
Department Of Veterans Affairs ◽  
Federal Employees ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Compensation Systems ◽  
The Right

Abstract Although several states use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) when they evaluate individuals with impairments and disabilities, various disability systems exist in the United States. Disability and compensation systems have arisen to ensure that disadvantaged members of society with a medically determinable impairment, which may lead to a disability, have recourse to compensation from various sources, including state and federal workers’ compensation laws, veterans’ benefits, social welfare programs, and legal avenues. Each of these has differing definitions of disability, entitlement, benefits, procedures of claims application, adjudication, and the roles and relative weights assigned to medical vs administrative deliberations. Workers’ compensation statutes were enacted because of inadequacies of recovery from claims for injured workers under common law. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system adopted to resolve the dilemmas of tort claims by providing automatic coverage to employees injured during the course of employment; in exchange for coverage, employees forego the right to sue the employer except for wanton neglect. Other workers’ compensation programs in the United States include the Federal Employees Compensation Act; the Federal Employers Liability Act (railroads); the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act); the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act; the Department of Veterans Affairs; Social Security; and private, long-term disability insurance.

scholarly journals Emerging Retirement Crisis: When Social Security Is Not Enough

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 694-695
Author(s):  
David Miller
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Social Welfare Programs ◽  
Retirement Crisis

Abstract Evidence suggests a growing retirement crisis in the United States among older adults placing many of them at risk of falling into poverty. While Social Security provides income assistance to retirees, the average monthly benefit is $1,300. Among older adults nearing or in retirement, the use of public assistance programs is increasing. Using data collected by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research we examine retirement preparedness, borrowing from retirement plans, and use of social welfare programs. Findings indicate increased borrowing from retirement plans due to debt, significant differences in racial and gender groups accessing and receiving services among those 75 and older. Increasing rates of unpreparedness for retirement exist among older Americans, particularly among adults of color. An increase in the use of safety net services among older adults is occurring concurrently with severe funding reductions in social welfare programming.

scholarly journals Around the world in 80 waves: Addressing the nation’s immigration crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Barker ◽  
Brodie Freijy ◽  
Aaron Gonzales ◽  
Matthew Herdrich ◽  
Amira Lambertis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Bracero Program ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Migrant Integration ◽  
American Society ◽  
Distribution Composition ◽  
And Control

Immigration has a paramount effect on the size, distribution, composition, and cultural aspects of the United States. Policymakers implemented several programs, such as the Bracero program, the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), and have increased border security to address migration issues. While these programs were merely short term solutions, we focused on possibilities that can address this issue in a long-term and comprehensive setting. The MIGRANT (Migrant Integration Generating Reform And New Trends) policy focuses on the objective to integrate undocumented immigrants into American society.

The 1970s

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Borstelmann
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Free Agency ◽  
The World ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
American Society

This book looks at an iconic decade when the cultural left and economic right came to the fore in American society and the world at large. While many have seen the 1970s as simply a period of failures epitomized by Watergate, inflation, the oil crisis, global unrest, and disillusionment with military efforts in Vietnam, this book creates a new framework for understanding the period and its legacy. It demonstrates how the 1970s increased social inclusiveness and, at the same time, encouraged commitments to the free market and wariness of government. As a result, American culture and much of the rest of the world became more—and less—equal. This book explores how the 1970s forged the contours of contemporary America. Military, political, and economic crises undercut citizens' confidence in government. Free market enthusiasm led to lower taxes, a volunteer army, individual 401(k) retirement plans, free agency in sports, deregulated airlines, and expansions in gambling and pornography. At the same time, the movement for civil rights grew, promoting changes for women, gays, immigrants, and the disabled. And developments were not limited to the United States. Many countries gave up colonial and racial hierarchies to develop a new formal commitment to human rights, while economic deregulation spread to other parts of the world, from Chile and the United Kingdom to China. Placing a tempestuous political culture within a global perspective, this book shows that the decade wrought irrevocable transformations upon American society and the broader world that continue to resonate today.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document