This syllabus may have been updated. To ensure that you're looking at the most recent version, please hit "Reload."

11.020 Poverty, Public Policy and Controversy

Professor Martin Rein

mrein@mit.edu

Office: 9-549

X3-2047

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00

11.020 Poverty, Public Policy and Controversy (HASS-D)

Course Syllabus

Fall 1998, MW 3:00-4:30, 5-231

Much social controversy in the 1990s has been concerned with how society should respond to poverty, and the related issues of welfare, out of wedlock births, homelessness, crime, and drugs. This course investigates how particular societal responses are a function of the values, political and policy issues, as well as social science findings that are brought to controversies. The course will examine both what we know about poverty and related behaviors from social science research and how this knowledge is incorporated into public discourse.

Requirements:

readings, one midterm exam (15%)

one final exam (20%)

three 7 page papers (35%)

attendance at lectures and participation in weekly sections (30%)

The following texts are available at the Coop in Kendall Square:

Rebecca Blank, It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty

Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poor House

Steven M. Teles, Whose Welfare? AFDC and Elite Politics

The reader can be purchased from Copy Tech, located on the MIT campus in building 11-004. There is also a set of reserve readings at Rotch Library. In selected cases there are readings that will be handed out in class.

Students are responsible for all readings below. Assignments in the books from the Coop and the reader should be completed before class.

PART I: CONCEPTUALIZING POVERTY

Monday, September 14

(Lecture 1) Overview

Class Handout Mayer, Susan and Jencks, Christopher. "War on Poverty: No Apologies, Please." Op-Ed. The New York Times. November 9, 1995 (1pp)

Class Handout Murray, Charles. "Welfare Hysteria" Op-Ed. The New York Times. November 14, 1995 (1pp)

Reader Aaron, Henry J., Mann, Thomas, E. & Taylor, Timothy (eds). 1994. "Introduction" in Values and Public Policy. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institute, pp. 1-4. (4pp)

Rocheford, David. 1994. Chapter 1, in The Politics of Problem Definition: Shaping the Policy Agenda. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, pp. 1-31. (28pp)

Schon, Donald and Rein, Martin. 1994. Chapter 2 "Policy Controversies as Frame Conflicts", in Frame Reflection. New York: Basic Books, pp. 23-36. (14pp)

Wednesday, September 16

(Lecture 2) Who is Poor? Definitions

Blank, Rebecca. 1996 "Introduction" in It Takes a Nation. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press pp. 3-12. (10pp)

Reader Rein, Martin. 1970. Chapter 2 "Problems in the Definition and Measurement of Poverty" in The Concept of Poverty, (ed) Peter Towsend, London: Heinemann, pp. 46-63.(18pp)

Mayer, Susan and Jencks, Christopher. 1996. "Do Official Poverty Rates Provide Useful Information About Trends in Children's Economic Welfare?" mimeo pp.1-46 (46pp)

World Development Report 1990. Pp. 25-29. (5pp)

Monday, September 21

(Lecture 3) Who Is Poor? The Social Demography of Poverty

Blank, Rebecca. 1997. Chapter 1 "The Changing Face of Poverty" in It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. Princeton NJ: Princeton/Russell Sage, pp. 13-51. (39pp).

Reader Rainwater, Lee. 1994. "A Primer on Poverty: 1949-1992" Russell Sage Foundation, Working Paper No. 53: 1-27. (27 pp)

Wednesday, September 23

(Lecture 4) How Should the Poor be Helped?: How the United States Cares for the Poor.

Blank, Rebecca. 1997. Chapter 3 "America's Efforts to Provide A Safety Net" in It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. Princeton NJ: Princeton/Russell Sage, pp. 83-132. (50pp)

Blank, Rebecca. 1997. Chapter 4 "What do Anti-Poverty Programs Do?" in It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. Princeton NJ: Princeton/Russel Sage, pp. 133-190. (58pp)

Monday, September 28

(Lecture 5) How Should the Poor be Helped? The Problem of Incentives ( different kinds of incentives: cash and in-kind, the poverty trap, moral hazards, cheating)

Reader Mead, Lawrence. "Telling the Poor What to Do" in The Public Interest, Summer 1998, No. 132, pp. 97-112. (16pp)

Ellwood, David. 1988. Chapter 2 "Values and Helping Conundrums" in Poor Support, New York: Basic Books, pp. 14-26. (13pp)

Le Grand, Julian. "Knights, Knaves or Pawns: Human Behavior and Social Policy. March 1996 Mimeo pp. 1-26. (26pp)

Barr, Nicholas. "Economic Theory and Welfare State: A Survey and Interpretation," in Journal of Economic Literature, June 1992 vol 30 No 2, pp. 752-753. (2pp)

Wilson, James Q. 1997. Chapter 11 "Paternalism, Democracy, and Bureaucracy", in Mead, Lawrence The New Paternalism. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution, pp. 330-343. (14pp)

Reserve Piven, Francis Fox & Cloward, Richard A. 1993. Chapter 4 & 5 in Regulating the Poor: The Function of Public Welfare (2 ed.). New York: Vintage Books, pp. 123-180. (58pp)

Wednesday September 30

(Lecture 6) Who is Responsible for The Poor? The Puzzle of Individual Responsibility and Equality

Katz, Michael. 1986. Chapter 1 "The Origins and Failure of the Poor House" pp. 3-36, chapter 2 "Outdoor Relief" pp.47-59, and chapter 4 "The Transformation of the Poorhouse" in In the Shadow of the Poorhouse. New York: Basic Books. (80pp)

Reader Patterson, Orlando. 1997. Chapter 2 "The Moral & Intellectual Crisis of Liberal Afro-American Advocacy" in The Ordeal of Integration. Washington: Civitas / Counterpoint, pp. 83-97. (15pp)

Wilson James Q. 1997. Pp. 36-43 in Moral Judgment: Does the Abuse Excuse Threaten Our Legal System? New York: Basic Books. (9pp)

MacIntyre, Alasdair. 1984. Chapter 17 in After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (2 ed.). Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 244-255. (12pp)

Reserve Sen Amatya, 1992. "The Nature of Poverty" in Inequality Reexamined. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 107-116. (10pp)

Monday, October 5

(Lecture 7) Who is Responsible for the Poor? Societal Obligations in Historical and Comparative Perspective: England, USA, and The Netherlands)

Blank, Rebecca. 1997. Chapter 5 "Who Should Help the Poor", in It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. Princeton NJ: Princeton/Russel Sage, pp. 191-219. (29pp)

Reader Gough, Ian et al. 1997. "Social Assistance in OECD Countries" Journal of European Social Policy, vol. 7, pp. 17-43. (27pp)

Tawney, R.H. 1954. "The New Medicine for Poverty" in Religion and the Rise of Capitalism: A Historical Study (Holland Memorial Lectures ,1922) New York: A Mentor Book, pp. 210-226. (17pp)

McCants, Anne. 1998. Chapter 1 "Charitable Behavior and the Rise of Capitalism" in Civic Charity in a Golden Age. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, pp. 1-21, 237-239. (24pp)

PART II: POVERTY FRAMES

Frame One: Poverty as Impoverishment

Wednesday, October 7

(Lecture 8) Economic Growth and Poverty

Blank, Rebecca. 1997. Chapter 2 "A Changing Economy" in It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. Princeton NJ: Princeton/Russell Sage. (31pp)

Reader Krugman, Paul. 1994. "Europe Jobless, America Penniless?" Foreign Policy. (Summer) pp. 19-34. (16pp)

Krugman, Paul. 1994. Chapter 5 "Income Distribution" in Peddling Prosperity. New York: W.W. Norton, pp. 130-150. (21pp)

Danziger, Sheldon and Gottschalk, Peter. 1995. Chapter 5 "Why Poverty Remains High", in America Unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 93-110, 188-190. (21pp)

Monday, October 12 NO CLASS: Columbus Day Holiday

Tuesday, October 13

(Lecture 9) The IQ Controversy ­ The Bell Curve

Reserve Herrnstein, Richard and Murray, Charles. 1994. "Introduction", chapter 5 "Poverty" and "Afterward" in The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure American Life. New York: Free Press, pp. 1-24, 127-142, 553-575. (63pp)

Reader Heckman, James. 1995. "A Review of The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure American Life by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray" Reason. March, 1995, pp. 1, 19-23. (6pp)

Wednesday, October 14

(Lecture 10) Taxes, Transfer and Exemptions

Katz, Michael. 1986. Chapters 3, 5, & 6 in In the Shadow of the Poorhouse. New York: Basic Books. (70pp)

Reader Titmuss, Richard. 1959. Chapter 2 "Social Division of Welfare." in Essays on the Welfare State. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 34-55. (22pp)

Reserve Rein, Martin and Rainwater, Lee. 1986, chapter 2 "The Institutions of Social Protection" in Public/Private Interplay in Social Protection: A Comparative Study. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, pp. 25-56 (32pp)

Frame Two: Poverty as Deviance

Monday, October 19

Introduction to Social Deviance

Film: "Boyz in the Hood"

Katz, Michael. 1986. Chapters 7 & 8 in In the Shadow of the Poorhouse. New York: Basic Books. (90pp)

Wednesday, October 21

(Lecture 11) The Underclass Debate

Reader Wilson, William Julius. 1987. Chapter 1 "Cycles of Deprivation and the Ghetto Underclass Debate" in The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 3-19. (17pp)

Anderson, Elijah. 1994. "Code of the Streets." Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 273, May, pp. 81-82, 86-89, 92, 94. (8pp)

Jencks, Christopher. 1992. Chapter 5 "Is the American Underclass Growing?" in Rethinking Social Policy: Race, Poverty and the Underclass New York: Harper Perennial, pp. 143-203, 250-262. (74pp)

Rainwater, Lee. 1987. "Class Culture, Poverty and Welfare", October, pp. 1-32. Revised 1989. (33pp)

Monday, October 26

(Lecture 12) Crime, Deviance, and Poverty

Reader Sampson, Robert, J. et al. (1997). "Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy", Science, vol. 227, 15 August 1997, pp. 918-924. (7pp)

Wilson, James Q. 1975. Chapter 3 "Criminologists", in Thinking About Crime. New York: Basic Books, pp. 43-63. (21pp)

Jaynes, Gerald David and Williams, Robin M.. 1989. "Crime and the Administration of Criminal Justice", in The Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society" Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, pp. 453-477, 498-507. (35pp)

Kennedy, David, M. 1997. "Pulling Levers: Chronic Offenders, High-Crime Settings, and the Theory of Prevention". Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol 31, No. 2, pp. 449-484. (36pp)

Wednesday, October 28 MIDTERM EXAM

Frame III: Poverty as Dependence

Monday, November 2

(Lecture 13) The Changing Structures of Families: The Feminization of Poverty

Reader Pearce, D.M. 1978. "The Feminization of Poverty: Women, Work and Welfare." Urban Social Change Vol. 11, 1-2. pp. 28-36. (9pp)

McLanahan, Sara. 1994. "The Consequences of Single Motherhood." in American Prospect. Vol. 18 Summer. pp. 48-58. (11pp)

McLanahan, Sara and Garfinkel, Irv. 1985. Chapter 3 in Single Mothers and Their Children, The Urban Institute Press, pp. 45-85. (41pp)

Lewis, Jane. 1995. "The Problem of Lone Mothers in Twentieth Century Britain", (Mimeo) pp. 1-28. (28pp)

Wednesday, November 4

(Lecture 14) Orphanages, Mothers Pensions and the Problem of Dependency

Reader Jencks, Christopher. 1992. Chapter 2 in Rethinking Social Policy: Race, Poverty, and the Underclass. Cambridge, MA. : Harvard University Press, pp. 70-91. (22pp)

Kertzer, David. 1993. Chapter 2 in Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 16-37. (23pp)

Reserve Murray, Charles. 1984. Chapter 12 & 16 in Losing Ground. New York: Basic Books, pp. 154-166, 205-218. (27pp)

Skocpol, Theda. 1995. Chapters 4 and 5 in Social Policy in the United States: Future Possibilities in a Historical Perspective. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 136-208. (73pp)

Monday, November 9

(Lecture 15) Welfare Reform

Teles, Steven. 1996. Chapter 8 in Whose Welfare?: AFDC and Elite Politics. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. (17pp)

Reader Haskins, Ron. 1998. "Liberal and Conservative Influences on the Welfare Reform Legislation of 1996", (Mimeo) pp. 1-43. (43pp)

Edelman, Peter. 1997. "The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done" The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 279, No. 3. pp. 43-58. (16pp)

De Parle, Jason. "It Takes A Village to Reform Welfare"The New York Times Magazine, August 24, 1997: 32, pp. 33-37, 47, 54, 59-61. (10pp)

Jencks, Christopher. 1997. "Preface" in Kathryn Edin and Laura Lein, Making Ends Meet, New York: Russell Sage, pp. ix-xxvii. (19pp)

Ellwood, David. 1996. "Welfare Reform As I Knew It: When Bad Things Happen to Good Policies." The American Prospect, May- June, pp. 22-29. (8pp)

Wednesday, November 11 NO CLASS: Veteran's Day Holiday

Frame IV: Poverty and Disenfranchisement

Monday, November 16

(Lecture 16) War on Poverty and the Expansion of AFDC

Katz, Michael. 1986. "From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare" (Part III) in In the Shadow of the Poorhouse. New York: Basic Books. (41pp)

Teles, Steven. 1996. Chapters 2, 5 ,6 and 7 in Whose Welfare?: AFDC and Elite Politics. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. (94pp)

Wednesday, November 18

(Lecture 17) Lack of Power and Social Capital

Reader Alinsky, Saul. 1969. Chapter 1 in Reveille for Radicals. New York: Random House (Vintage Books), pp.3-23. (21pp)

Cortes, Ernesto. 1993. "Reweaving the Fabric: The Iron Rule and IAF Strategy for Dealing with Poverty Through Power Politics". IAF working paper #56 pp. 1-31. (31pp)

McKnight, John. 1991. "Services are Bad for People", in Organizing, Spring-Summer 1991, pp. 69-72. (4pp)

Mondros, Jaqueline and Wilson, Scott. 1994. Chapter 1 in Organizing for Power and Empowerment. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 1-10. (11pp)

Reserve Fisher, Robert. 1994. Chapter 4 "The Neighborhood Organizing Revolution of the 1960's", in Let the People Decide: Neighborhood Organizing in America. Boston: Twayne Publishers / MacMillan Publishing Company, pp. 98-131. (34pp)

Monday, November 23 Disenfranchisement Frame Continues

Film: TBD

Reader Gaventa, John. 1980. Chapter 1 "Power and Participation" in Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 4-32. (29pp)

Reserve Mondros, Jacqueline and Wilson, Scott. 1994. Chapter 7 "Implementing Strategy: The Action Phase", in Organizing for Power and Empowerment. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 161-186. (26pp)

Shirely, Dennis. 1997. Chapter 7 "The Educational Collaboratives of the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation", in Robert H. Wilson, Public Policy and Community. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 166-228. (63pp)

PART III: POLITICS, POLICY, AND KNOWLEDGE

Monday, November 30

(Lecture 18) Race and Poverty

Reader West, Cornel. 1993. Chapter 1 "Nihilism in Black America" in Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 17-31. (15pp)

Massey, Douglas, and Denton, Nancy. 1993. Chapters 5 & 6 in American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 115-185. (71pp)

Williams, Robin and Jaynes, Gerald. 1989. Chapter 1 "Overview: Then and Now" in A Common Destiny, National Academy Press, pp. 35-53. (19pp)

Reserve Edsall, Thomas and Edsall, Mary. 1992. Chapter 12 "The Stakes", in Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics. New York: W.W. Norton pp. 256-288. (33pp)

Wilson, William Julius. 1996. Chapter 5 "The Meaning and Significance of Race: Employers and Inner-City Workers" in When Work Disappears: World of the New Urban Poor. New York: Knopf / Random House, pp. 111-146. (36pp)

Wednesday, December 2

(Lecture 19) Politics and Poverty

Teles, Steven. 1996. Chapter 1,3 and 4 in Whose Welfare?: AFDC and Elite Politics. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. (52pp)

Reader Coffin, Brent B. 1997. Chapters 1, 2 & 3 " Justice in the American Welfare Reform Debate", "The Structural Functionalism of Piven and Cloward", " The Libertarian Conservatism of Charles Murray", in A View From Below: Justice in the American Welfare Reform Debate, PhD Thesis. 1997. Harvard Divinity School pp. 1-102. (102pp)

Monday, December 7

(Lecture 20) Social Science and Public Policy (Formerly Titled: The Policy Making Process)

Blank, Rebecca. 1996. Chapter 6 in It Takes a Nation. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. (32pp)

Reader Coffin, Brent, B. 1997. Chapters 4 & 5 "The Civic Conservatism of Lawrence Mead", "The Civic Liberalism of David Ellwood", in A View From Below: Justice in the American Welfare Reform Debate. PhD Thesis, 1997. Harvard Divinity School, pp. 103-323. (223pp)

Reserve Wilson, William Julius. 1996. Chapter 7 "Racial Antagonisms and Race-Based Social Policy", in When Work Disappears: World of the New Urban Poor. New York: Knopf, pp. 183-206. (24pp)

Wednesday, December 9

(Lecture 21) Conclusion

Teles, Steven. 1996. Chapter 9 in Whose Welfare?: AFDC and Elite Politics. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press. (13pp)

Reader Stone, Deborah. 1989. "Causal Stories and the Formation of Policy Agendas". In Political Science Quarterly, vol 104, no 2., pp. 281-300. (20pp)

Rein, Martin & Winship, Christopher. 1998. "The Dangers of "Strong" Causal Reasoning: "Root" Causes, Social Science, and Poverty Policy". (14pp)

Sawhill, Elizabeth. 1995. "Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: The Economist vs. Madmen in Authority." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(3):3-13. (11pp)

Reserve Lindblom, Charles E. 1990. Chapter 1 "Knowledge and Social Problems", in Inquiry and Change: The Troubled Attempt to Understand and Shape Society. New York: Yale University Press / Russel Sage, pp. 1-14. (14pp)

Haveman, Robert 1994. Chapter 16 "The Nature, Causes, and Cures of Poverty: Accomplishments from Three Decades of Poverty Research and Policy."in Confronting Poverty, edited by Sheldon Danziger, Gary Sandefur, and Dan Weinberg. New York: Russell Sage Foundation and Cambridge, MA.:Harvard University Press, pp. 438-448, 478. (12pp)

 

| Main Page | This Week's Events | About the Department | Academic Programs | Admissions | Financial Assistance | DUSP Classes | People | Publications | DUSP Grads | Activities | Student Awards |