Teaching Ideas for Chapter 18:
Social Welfare Policymaking
Discuss the meaning and implications of the concept of an "urban underclass." Does the existence of an underclass in the United States conflict with the values of equality and freedom that are typically associated with democracies? (You might also ask your students to investigate disagreements among scholars regarding the existence or size of an underclass in the United States.)
American social welfare programs are more limited in scope than is the case in other democracies. Divide your class into three or four research groups, and assign a country (including the United States) to each group. Ask each group to review social welfare policies of the assigned nation. The group should focus on social welfare policies, but should also go beyond the "obvious" and look at advantages and disadvantages of the system. For example, what effect has the system had on the budget, and what is the level of taxation? One member of each group should be expected to give a brief presentation in class the following week outlining the research group's conclusions.
This question is raised in the textbook--The issue posed by problems of intergenerational equality is this: Who should get what share of public policy benefits and at what costs? This is a complex, emerging debate about social policy and may, in the future, pit different age groups against one another. This issue could be the basis of an engrossing class discussion. Ask students to look at the views of the elderly who believe they have a "compact" based on promises made in the past and their own contributions to the system, and contrast that with the views of many younger people who feel that they and their children are being short-changed in the process.
You Are the Policymaker: Should Welfare Mothers Be Allowed to Save for Their Children's Education? asks students to assume the role of the policymaker and decide whether welfare mothers should be allowed to save for their children's education without losing welfare benefits. Ask your class to review this feature and then write a brief essay expounding the position they would take if they were the policymakers with authority to set rules for this type of case.
One of the major policy accomplishments of the Republican-controlled Congress under House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been the reform of the social welfare system. Ask students to document the specific changes made to welfare programs in the United States. Then assign each student, or students working in groups, to use both the library and the Internet to determine how the states have responded to their new responsibilities. Is the new system better? In what ways?