From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition
A History of Social Welfare in America
Preface to the Sixth EditionThe first question most readers undoubtedly will ask is, why publish a new edition of From Poor Law to Welfare State at this time? While there are a number of reasons for doing so, there are two compelling, although related, answers to that question. First, the previous edition of this work ended on a rather upbeat, or optimistic, note. President Bill Clinton had just introduced his sweeping proposal to overhaul the nation's health care system, and while many questions about that undertaking remained unanswered, I wrote that "most Americans reacted favorably to the plan and looked forward to the upcoming debate over its specifics." Furthermore, to again quote from the last edition, "there seemed to be bi-partisan support, in and out of Congress, for the notion that the time had come for some sort of universal national health insurance scheme." Obviously, I was wrong, and I am glad to have the opportunity to correct myself -- and to explain why I was mistaken.
Second, and closely related, I also mi ... read full excerpt from: From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition: A History of Social Welfare in America ebook
