Social = Collective Society

1. Social = Collective Society Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

2. Important Facts • What percentage of your paycheck is taken to pay for Social Security? • 7.65% • What % of Children under 18 live in poverty? • 17.8% • What is the name for federal insurance program for the elderly? • Medicare Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

3. Important Facts • What is the name of federal medical assistant program for the poor? • Medicaid • What is the federal/state cash assistance program that has been designed to aid poor children? • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) • How many members of Congress are there? • HOR – 434 • Senate - 100 Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

4. Social Welfare System • Social Issues/Problems • Policy Goals - Debate • Legislation and Regulation • Social Welfare Programs Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

5. Important Questions to Study Social Welfare Systems • Who gets services? (Eligibility) • Why do they get services? (Program Goals) • What do they receive? (Benefits) • How do they receive services? (Service Delivery system) • What does it cost? (Cost Analysis) • Who pays for it? (Financing) Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

6. World War II, The postwar era. • New Deal was dismantled during World War II. • All the programs for Social Security survived the war. • Post-war economic boom • Conservative pressure • Marshall plan • Increase in Military spending: Korean War 1950-53. Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

7. Welfare Vs. Military-Industrial Complex • Eisenhower: “Every dollar spent on guns is a dollar not spent on humanitarian programs. • Development of missile and costly aircraft. • Protection of Eastern Europe. • Proliferation of Communism. • Racial matters left to states. Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

8. Issues • Terms: Constituency • “War on poverty” …..President Johnson (the golden era of welfare policy) • Reagan Era: Introduction of Block Grants • “ending welfare as we know it” ….President Clinton ( a shift in attitude towards welfare policy) • Does public opinion translates into public policy? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

9. Evolution of social welfare system • Industrialization and social welfare system • Social values and cycles of history • Work vs Leisure • Individualism vs Collectivism • Competition vs. Cooperation • Social control • Elite power Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

10. Competing ideologies and social welfare system • Worthy and unworthy poor • Blaming the victim • The culture of poverty • The Biological Determinism • Social Welfare as a right Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

11. Questions? • In ancient societies we did not have any welfare, why do we need it now? • Do you think social welfare is a human right? • Do you think, people who do not benefit from welfare but do pay for it should have a say in the continuation of welfare system? • How long should a person in need be served by welfare? • Do you think people who are at a disadvantage should share at least some blame for their plight? • Is welfare more important than defense? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

12. Questions? • Do you think historically our welfare system have improved the life of people? • Do you think welfare serves more of immediate problem instead of addressing the root issues? • Do you think foreign nationals and temporary residents should also receive welfare benefits? • How much ones needs to be socially responsible and how much one needs to be self-reliant? • Do you think your values are reflected in the social welfare decision making? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

13. Three issues that the president had raised that concerned welfare • Comprehensive Immigration Reform • Healthcare Reform • Global Warming • Public School Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

14. Should government involvement and spending in social welfare be reduced? • Do you favor or oppose it? • What is your justification? • What are the advantages of a government funded social welfare system? • What are the disadvantages of a government funded social welfare system? • What does the history say? • Do we have enough consensuses? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

15. Should government involvement and spending in social welfare be reduced? • What are the alternatives to a government funded social welfare system? • Is money a problem? • How many people do need welfare? • What does evaluation reports say? • Does it discourage entrepreneurship motivation? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

16. Should government involvement and spending in social welfare be reduced? • Does it create a culture of dependence? • Does it go with the values that our founding fathers held? • What is the place of social welfare system in a market economy? • What can we learn from different experiments in other countries? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

17. Our worldview influences our support on social policy making • Positivist • Post-Modernist Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

18. Who influences social policy making? • Administrators • Legislators • Judiciary • Executives Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

19. Can social policy making decrease the need for welfare in future? • Residual Policy Making • Institutional Policy Making Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

20. Residual Welfare Services • Residual Services • Eligibility based on proving a need • The breakdown of other systems that should be working • Success is measured by the decrease of numbers receiving services • Stigma is attached to recipients • Services are means tested • Food stamps • TANF • General Relief • Head Start • WIC Nutrition Program Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

21. Institutional Welfare Services • Services are preventative • Eligibility is flexible • Minimal stigma • Benefits are universal • Negative outcomes are prevented • Services include • Redistribution of wealth • Guaranteed income • Negative income tax • Children’s allowances • Socialized health care Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

22. Who performs social policy making? • Private sector • For profit • Non-profit • Public sector • Government (Federal, State, Local) • Can private sector policy influence public sector policies? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

23. Local and Subnational Policy making • The Hierarchical Model • Do local governments only implements the policy made by the Federal government? • Does local governments enjoy an independent policy making right by the constitution? • According to the Constitution the Federal Government has no constitutional power to develop and implement social policy Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

24. State and Local Governments • State governments gives local governments the power to rule through charters. • The charters specifies the responsibilities and obligations granted to local governments • Can state governments take away such powers from local governments? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

25. Overlapping jurisdictional Authority • Local level policy analysis becomes complex because of the overlapping jurisdictional authority • Counties, townships, municipalities, city governments • School Districts, Special Districts or Authorities such as Port Authority, Airport Authority, Transportation, University, Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

26. Can state boss over local governments at will? • Article 10 of the US Constitution named “popular sovereignty” protects local governments from state, very much the same way states are protected from Federal government Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

27. Feds bypass State to ally with locals • Title II of Higher Education Act lets Federal government fund local schools districts directly independent of state jurisdiction • No-Child-Left-Behind Act • War on Poverty programs • Housing Codes Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

28. The role of non-profits • Can the county commissioners direct the local United Way to use its funds to support specific social programs the county may need? • However, the local United Way can be encouraged to support existing public social services Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

29. Non-Profits and Public Agencies • Non-profits are supposed to be more innovative in designing new social welfare program that they run • At times the success of non-profit exposes the faults in public social welfare systems • States are encouraged to be innovating and chart new direction, like the non-profits, through block grants Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

30. Partnerships • Council of Governments (COG) • Example: Older American Acts – Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) • Public-Private partnership--- Bank Mortgage • If private social welfare agencies desire contractual relationship with public agencies, then it must agree to abide by the regulations set down by the public agency Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

31. Operation issues • How do local governments manage this confusion with overlapping jurisdiction? • Informal Policy Making Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

32. The effects of competing values on social systems • Social responsibilities for the care of the poor and those in need • Personal responsibilities through self-reliance? • Conservative Vs Liberals • Social Work Values • Impact of values on social welfare policies Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

33. Inter-govt relations • Whether Fed and State/local govt share the same objectives • If state/local govts receive Fed fund then they have to adhere to Fed guidelines • Carrot and Stick approach Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

34. Federal Govt. Money • Morrill Act (1862) • Payments to Individuals • Grant-in-Aid (categorical grants) • Block Grant • Subsidies • Interest-free bonds • Tax Incentives Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

35. Categorical Grant and Block Grant; Comparison • BGs give state and local govts more power • BGs are more flexible • CGs have strings attached • CGs include matching fund from Feds • CGs are complicated to administer • CGs are more expensive to administer • BGs could be more effective than CGs Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

36. Forms of social welfare assistance • Cash • In-kind • Vouchers • Social Insurance Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

37. Income Maintenance- Social Insurance • Social Security-OASDI • Medicare • Unemployment Insurance • Workers Compensation Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

38. Income Maintenance: Public Assistance • Assistance made as unpleasant as possible to deter use • Recipients should be made to work regardless of job conditions or pay • Payments must be lower than what can be received at a job • Aid should only be temporary • Assistance should be denied to those who voluntarily quit their jobs. Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

39. Income Maintenance: Public Assistance • AFDC/TANF • Food Stamps • SSI • Medicaid • Housing Assistance Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

40. Private Programs • Health Care • Private Pension Plans • Disability Payments • Life and Death Insurance Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

41. Social policy analysis • Investigation and Inquiry into the causes and consequences of public policy. • To provide guidance and direction to policy makers • Information gained through policy analysis can be used to develop policy alternative • To assess existing and previous policies Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

42. Social welfare policy analysis • social policy arena is diverse with numerous interest groups. • Its both art and science • Social welfare policy follows a linear flow Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

43. Policy Analysis Framework • Problem Identification • Locating the focus of policy decision • Determining Alternatives • Predicting Policy Impact and Unintended Effects • (most of the times an expected impact of a social policy differ from the real or actual impact) Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

44. Models of Social Policy Analysis • Define a problem • Devise alternatives that would resolve it • Gather and examine data to empirically support these alternatives • Carry out a cost-benefit analysis • Evaluate whether its achieving its intended result Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

45. Incrementalism • Its not always feasible to gather all information and information of all possible choices are not readily accessible • Its always better to make small changes in the existing policy and as gather more information and move on eventually the existing policy will transform itself into a new one. • Social Security and TANF are examples of incremental policy making Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

46. Is policy making a rational process? • Do rational policy making exist? • Rational policy making (ideally) involve • Knowledge of the values of all segment of the society • All possible policy alternatives and their consequences • Cost and benefits analysis (which is hard to come by) • Do you think this is possible? Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

47. In reality; the making of public policy is usually messy and irrational • Numerous factors interfere into rationality • Competing values • Interest groups with varied resources • Lack of time to weigh all possibilities • Lack of adequate information Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

48. Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

49. Windows of opportunity • Compelling public problem • A Solution • Political support Dhrubodhi Mukherjee

50. Street Level Bureaucrats • Service workers • Implementation Dhrubodhi Mukherjee