Description
Book SynopsisShows what the Badger State did and how it was done. Wisconsin's welfare reform was the most radical in the country, and it began far earlier than that in most other states. It was the achievement of legislators and administrators who were unusually high-minded and effective by national standards.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2005 Louis Brownlow Book Award, National Academy of Public Administration "The rich detail provided by the author and his investigation into the provision of administrative services make this a useful addition to the literature on welfare reform, state politics, and public policy."--Choice "Government Matters offers an important, in-depth analysis of the government institutions that developed and implemented Wisconsin's welfare reform program. The book will be most attractive to academic audiences, as well as practitioners and researchers who have an interest in administrative structures in general and in Wisconsin's welfare reform efforts in particular."--Susan T. Gooden and Kasey J. Martin, Public Administration Review "Lawrence Mead's new book is ... an especially welcome addition to the literature on contemporary welfare policy... Government Matters provides a valuable portrait of the political and administrative dimensions of putting policy into practice over time. It is an important book that raises vitally important questions about the contemporary American welfare state, governance, and the meaning of citizenship."--Laura S. Jenson, Perspectives on Politics "Lawrence Mead's book is an extraordinary chronicle of perhaps the most well known and successful instance of American welfare reform in the 1990s, in Wisconsin... [A] judicious combination of interviews, participant-observation, documentary research, and statistical analysis."--Robert C. Lieberman, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Table of ContentsPreface ix List of Acronyms xiii CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2 The Development of Reform 18 CHAPTER 3 The Politics of Reform 37 CHAPTER 4 Implementing Work Requirements 63 CHAPTER 5 Local Variations 79 CHAPTER 6 The Emergence of W-2 107 CHAPTER 7 Implementing W-2 132 CHAPTER 8 Paternalism 157 CHAPTER 9 The Decline of Welfare 175 CHAPTER 10 The Effects of Reform 193 CHAPTER 11 Welfare Reform and Good Government 214 CHAPTER 12 Origins of Excellence 245 CHAPTER 13 Implications 261 Notes 279 Index 341
