Social Welfare 552 Gunnar
Almgren
Seminar in Contemporary
Social Welfare Policy SSW 238E, hours by
appointment
Fall,
2008 (206)
685-4077
Tuesdays
9:30-12:20, SSW 125
Seminar Description
This
is the first of two doctoral seminars on social policy required of all first
year students in the Social Welfare doctoral program. This course provides a critical
review of contemporary American income maintenance and related social welfare
policies, and the economic, political, and social factors that affect their
development, implementation, effectiveness, unintended consequences, and latent
functions.
Core General Topics:
The
Structure and Functions of the Welfare State(s) in Comparative Perspective
Conceptualizations
of Citizenship, The Nature of the Social Contract, and Welfare Rights
The
Major Entitlements and Regulatory Functions of the American Welfare State
Immigration,
Economic Assimilation, and the Social Welfare Policy
Embedded
Dimensions of Stratification and Social Welfare Policy: Race, Class and Gender
Age
Effects on Income Security: Children and Social Welfare Policy
Age
Effects on Income Security: Workers and Labor Force Policy
Age
Effects on Income Security: The Aged and Social Welfare Policy
The
Intergenerational Transmission of Relative Advantage and Social Welfare Policy
The
Distribution of Health and Health Care and Social Welfare Policy
Indigenous
Peoples and Social Welfare Policy
The
Demography of the Family and Social Welfare Policy
Disability
over the Life Course and Social Welfare Policy
Seminar Format
For
the most part, seminar time will be equally divided between lecture/discussion
pertaining to specific policies and programs and related discussion, and more informal
discussion based on core readings.
Essential
background reading, to be completed over the course of the quarter:
Theda
Skocpol. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers:
The Political Origins of Social Policy in the
Piven
and Cloward. Regulating the Poor: The
Functions of Public Welfare. Vintage Books Edition: 1993
Evelyn
Nakano Glenn. Unequal Freedom: How Race
and Gender Shaped American Citizenship and Labor.
Michael
Katz. The Price of Citizenship:
Redefining the American Welfare State. Holt: 2001.
(Note,
there is a new edition of the text scheduled for release August 15, 2008 –but
still not released as of 9/18/08)
Note:
All four books extensively utilized in this course can be obtained in very
reasonably priced softcover editions.
Collateral
weekly readings:
Weekly
readings will be selection of articles, book chapters and reports available on
e-reserves*. Other than the background reading recommended to be completed over
the course of the quarter, book chapters and other source readings will average
about 100 pages per week.
*e-reserves for the seminar can be accessed via your MYUW
link, and then clicking on the course listing.
Assignments
There
are two components of evaluation in this course. The first is the student’s
contribution to a seminar discourse that is lively, inclusive, grounded in the
course readings and related literature, and is analytically sophisticated. Evaluation
of each student’s contribution will be based on:
1) Presentation a synopsis and
critique of readings pertaining to a specific aspect of contemporary social
welfare policy (e.g. the intersect between reproductive behavior and means
tested income subsidy).
2) Engagement in seminar discussions in the
participant role.
This
component comprises 40 percent of the course grade.
The
second component of evaluation for this course, comprising 60 percent of the
course grade, is a major policy paper that develops and enhances each student’s
foundation in the political philosophy of social welfare policy, as well as the
capacity to provide an informed and intellectually sophisticated critique of
contemporary social welfare policy as it has evolved in the
Specific instructions on
each of the written assignments will be handed out during the second week of
class.
Students with Disabilities
If
you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact
Disability Resources for Students, 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924/V, 206-543-8925/TTY.
If you have a letter from the office of Disability Resources for Students
indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please
present the letter to me so we can discuss the
accommodations
you might need for this class.
Schedule of Seminar
Topics and
There
are 10 weeks of seminar sessions, including a session during finals week in
place of a final examination.
|
Week 1 |
The Structure and Functions of the Welfare State in Comparative
Perspective- European Convergence and American Exceptionalism |
|
Policy Focus: |
The Federalist Structure of Social Welfare |
|
James Madison (1788) Federalist
Papers No. 45 Fraser and Gordan. 1992. Contract versus Charity, Participation and
Provision: A Reconsideration of "Social Citizenship”. CSST Working Papers No. 76. |
|
|
October 7 Week 2 |
Conceptualizations of Citizenship, The Nature of the Social Contract,
and Welfare Rights |
|
Policy Focus: |
The Evolvement of Federal Entitlements |
|
William Talbot. Autonomy Rights. In Which Rights Should Be Universal? 2005 Rex Martin. Justice and Welfare, In Rawls and Rights. 1985 University
Press of T. H. Marshall. The Right to Welfare and Afterthought. In The Right to Welfare and Other Essays.
1981 Free Press. N.Y. [For further optional reading, the full volume placed
on SSW Reserve under HN16 M 293 1981] *Gunnar Almgren. A Primer on Theories of Social Justice and Defining
the Problem of Health Care. In Health
Care Politics, Policy and Services. 2007 Springer 2007. *Optional, but highly recommended for those who need a refresher on alternative
theories of social justice and John Rawls. |
|
|
October 14 Week 3 |
Age Effects on Income Security: Workers, Labor Markets, and Labor
Force Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
NLRA/FLSA/OSHA |
|
Alice Kessler-Harris. 2003. In Pursuit of Economic Citizenship. Social Politics: International Studies in
Gender, State & Society, Volume 10, Number 2, pp. 157-175 Katherine Eddy. 2006. Welfare Rights and Conflicts of Rights. Res Publica 12:337–356 Kitty Calavita. 2005. Law, Citizenship, and the Construction of
(Some) Immigrant ‘‘Others’’. Law and Social Inquiry, Volume 30, pages
401–420. Smeeding and Phillips. Cross-National Differences in Employment and
Economic Sufficiency. Annals of the |
|
|
October 21 Week 4 |
Age Effects on Income Security: Children and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
AFDC/TANF/EITC |
|
Jennifer L Romich. Difficult Calculations: Low-Income Workers and
Marginal Tax Rates Social Service
Review. Mar 2006. Vol. 80, Iss. 1; p. 27-68 Genetian, Lopoo and Heuveline and Weinshenker. 2008. The International Child Poverty Gap:
Does Demography Matter? Demography
45 (1): 173-191. Wood, Moore and Rangarajan. 2008. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back:
The Uneven Economic Progress of TANF Recipients. Social Service Review 82 (1): 3-28. |
|
|
October 28 Week 5 |
The Demography of the Family and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
Fertility Control, Marriage and Support Enforcement |
|
How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about
It?” Child Trends Brief No. 2002-32 Parke, M. 2003. “Are Married Parents Really Better for Children? What
Research Says About the Effects of Family Structure on Child Well-Being.” CLASP
Policy Brief 3 (May). McLanahan, S. 2004. “Diverging Destinies: How Children Are Faring
Under the Second Demographic Transition.” Demography
41(4) (November)”607-627. Adam Thomas and Isabel Sawhill. 2002. “For Richer or for Poorer:
Marriage as an Antipoverty Strategy.” Journal
of Policy Analysis and Management 21: 587-599. Fragile Families. 2003. “Barriers to Marriage among Fragile Families.”
Fragile Families Research Briefs 16 (May). Meyer, D.R., M. Cancian, and S. Cook. 2005. “Multiple Partners
Fertility: Incidence and Implications for Child Support Policy.” Institute for Research on
Poverty Discussion Paper No. 1300-1305 (May). Gottschalk, McLanahan, and Sandefur.1994. The Dynamics and
Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty and Welfare." In Confronting Poverty (edited by
Danziger, Sandefur, andWeinberg). |
|
|
November 4 Week 6 |
Age Effects on Income Security: The Aged and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
Social Security-OAA/Medicare/ERISA Pension Provisions |
|
Burman et al. Policy Challenges Posed by the Aging of Vladeck (1999). The Political Economy of Medicare. Health Affairs 18 (1): 22-36. Feldstein. Structural Reform of Social Security. Journal of Economic Perspectives 19 (2) Spring 2005: 33-55. |
|
|
November 18 Week 7 |
The Distribution of Health and Health Care and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
Medicaid/SCHIP/ERISA Health Care Benefits Provisions/ Prospects for
Health Care Reform |
|
Link and Phelan. Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior;
1995: 80-94. Banks, Marmot, Oldfield, and Smith. Disease and Disadvantage in the Stuber and Kronebusch. Stigma and Other Determinants of Participation
in TANF and Medicaid. Journal of Policy
Analysis and Management, Vol. 23, No. 3, 509–530 (2004) Quadagno. Why the Nichols et al. Are Market Forces Strong Enough To Deliver Efficient
Health Care Systems? Confidence Is Waning.
Health Affairs, 2004 23 (2): 8-21. Almgren. (2006). Competing
Agendas for Health Care Reform: A Social Justice Critique. Health Care Politics, Policy, and Services.
NY: Springer Berggren. Unexpected Necessities — Inside Charity Hospital. |
|
|
November 25 Week 8 |
Disability over the Life Course and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
SSD/SSI/ADA/Olmstead |
|
DeLeire, Thomas. 2000. "The Wage and Employment Effects of the
Americans with Disabilities Act." Journal
of Human Resources 35(4):693-715. Block, Balcazar and Keys. Race, poverty and disability: three strikes
and you're out! Or are you? Social Policy
33 (1) (Fall 2002): 34-39. Martin and Davies. Changes in the demographic and economic
characteristics of SSI and DI beneficiaries between 1984 and 1999. Social Security Bulletin 65 (2)
(Summer 2003): 1-13. Vladeck. Where The Action Really Is: Medicaid And The Disabled. Health Affairs, 22 (1) (2003): 90-100. |
|
|
December 2 Week 9 |
Immigration, Economic Assimilation, and the Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
INA/IRCA and Welfare Reform |
|
Kymlicka and Banting. Immigration,
multiculturalism, and the welfare state. Ethics
& International Affairs 20 (3) (Dec 2006): 281-305. Phillips, Massey and Parrado.The new era of Mexican migration to the
United States.(Rethinking History and the Nation-State: Van Hook, J. 2003 "Welfare Reform: Chilling Effects
on Non-Citizens: Changes in Non-Citizen Welfare Recipiency or Shifts in
Citizenship Status?" Social
Science Quarterly, 84(3):613-631. Portes, Ferna´ndez-Kelly
and Haller. The Adaptation of the Immigrant Second Generation in |
|
|
December 9 Week 10 |
Indigenous Peoples and Social Welfare Policy |
|
Policy Focus: |
Indian Self-Determination Act/Indian Child Welfare Act/Indian Health
Care Improvement Act |
|
Kersey. Cross. Indian Family Exception Doctrine: Still Losing Children
Despite the Indian Child Welfare Act. Child
Welfare; Jul/Aug 2006; 85 (4): 671-690. Limb, Chance and Brown. An empirical examination of the Indian Child
Welfare Act and its impact on cultural and familial preservation for American
Indian children. Child Abuse and
Neglect 28 (2) (Dec 2004): 1279-1290. Kunitz. The History and Politics of US Health Care Policy for
American Indians and Alaskan Natives. American
Journal of Public Health. Oct 1996, 86 (10): 1464-1473 |
|