The Political Economy of Welfare Reform in the United States

Publication Date: September 1999

Publisher:

Author(s): John Clark; Jay F Hein

Research Area: Social conditions

Type: Report

Abstract:

Welfare has been reformed in America. This essay describes how this transformation took place, and what it means for the poor who remain in the world’s wealthiest nation. Through the unlikely partnership of a Democratic president and Republican Speaker of the House in 1996, the United States witnessed the most dramatic revolution in social policy since the New Deal reforms of Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. Ironies abound around this history-making initiative. It was Bill Clinton who campaigned for president calling for “an end of welfare reform as we know it,” yet he vetoed the first two welfare reform bills passed by Congress. A third bill, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), was passed by the Republican dominated 104th Congress in mid-1996 over Clinton’s opposition. He signed the bill against the advice of his closest advisors on welfare matters, many of whom resigned in protest. After signing the measure, Clinton campaigned for reelection both boasting about “ending welfare as we know it” and appealing for votes as the best person to undo major parts of the reform.