Lessons of welfare : policy design, political learning, and political action
By: SOSS, Joe
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ArticlePublisher: New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, June 1999American Political Science Review 93, 2, p. 363-380Abstract: Welfare recipients have an unusually visible material stake in government policies. Their immediate fates depend on the actions of public officials, and this fact is routinely underscored by speeches delivered in electoral campaigns and legislative debates. As one client interviewed for this study put it, "whether we get that welfare that keeps us alive depends on who's in office." In light of such strong personal incentives, one might expect welfare recipients to be more politically active than other citizens (Olson 1965). This article offers an analysis of why this is not the case - of why, in fact, public assistance recipients are an especially quiescent group (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995).
Welfare recipients have an unusually visible material stake in government policies. Their immediate fates depend on the actions of public officials, and this fact is routinely underscored by speeches delivered in electoral campaigns and legislative debates. As one client interviewed for this study put it, "whether we get that welfare that keeps us alive depends on who's in office." In light of such strong personal incentives, one might expect welfare recipients to be more politically active than other citizens (Olson 1965). This article offers an analysis of why this is not the case - of why, in fact, public assistance recipients are an especially quiescent group (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995).
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