1st Edition

The Stratified State Radical Institutionalist Theories of Participation and Duality

    These essays in the purest tradition of political economy consider three major themes from the multiple relationships between the state and the economy: duality, myth, and crisis. The state is a complex mix of dualisms: the welfare versus the warfare state; the agency of both social integration and exploitation; and public versus private institutions. The editors aim to distinguish true from false dualisms. Myths in modern society are important as they enables whites to dominate blacks, men to dominate women, warplanners to dominate peacemakers, the rich to dominate the poor. The editors consider the myth that the state and the market are separate, the state as a single, monolithic structure, and that we can all identify and share in a national interest. The crisis of the state is the third major theme. The state is in crisis, because we have no fully-developed theory of the state, because its welfare and warfare functions are undergoing profound change. The essays are all written from the point of view of radical institutionalism and emphasise the need for increased participation in the policymaking and policy evaluating processes of the state.

    This new edition of American Poverty in a New Era of Reform provides a comprehensive examination of the extent, causes, effects, and costs of American poverty nearly ten years after the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996. The author includes the most current available demographic, budget, evaluation, and program data to evaluate the impact of this sweeping legislation on federal and state policies, as well as on poverty populations. This revised edition takes into account the economic slowdown that took place in 2001 through 2003. It examines the state decisions about how to implement PRWORA, and how changes have affected the poverty population and overall welfare system. The author identifies the positive implications of welfare reform along with problems that must be addressed. New features for this edition include an appendix of Internet sources a state-by-state tables of poverty rates.

    Biography

    William M. Dugger, William T. Waller Jr.