PUAF 734: Foundations of Social Policy, Fall2013

Syllabus

Instructor: Peter Reuter. Room: VMH 1203

Office: 4103Van Munching Hall Time: Monday 4.15-6.45
Phone; 405 6367; fax 403 4675 Office Hours: Tu. 12-2
email: preuter@umd.edu

Social policy is the large and heterogeneous set of programs and laws that aim to
improve society’s wellbeing by redistribution, direct government provision of social
services and regulation of private provision of those services. In addition to health,
education and welfare, it covers such policy areas as criminal justice, immigration and
preventing or mitigating homelessness.We are concerned with describing and analyzing
not only the laws and programs themselves but also the problems that they are intended
to reduce and with the factors that determine the policy choices. Because the set of
potential topics for the course is so very large, the coverage of the course has varied over
the years. We can discuss possible other topics that might be substituted for those in the
final two classes:
This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of: (1) demographic
changes, their sources and impacts on policy choices; (2) the principal U.S. social
programs; (3) the differences between social policies in the US and in other nations; and,
(4) policies to help particularly vulnerable populations. It involves explicit analysis of
economic, political and normative aspects of social policy.
Grades will be based on four activities:
(1) Policy memo. By October8, each student will prepare a roughly 7 page1memo
analyzing a specific demographic issue, with an emphasis on assessing the data
sources (assignments given after class on September 16). [15%]
(2) One paper (length 15 pages) due in final form by week 13. This paper should
typically involve an analysis of the working of a program or institution, but I
am open to suggestions. A list of past topics that yielded interesting papers is
given below; you are invited to develop your own topic. Specific paper
proposals (one to two page description of goals and sources) are due October
15, and drafts by November 22; comments will be provided by Nov. 29. There
will be presentations on Dec. 2. Final drafts are due Dec. 8[30%]
(3) Final Exam. An open-book, take-home exam, given out after the final class
and due back one week later.[30%].
(4) Class participation. Since classes will include a substantial discussion
component; the readings need to be digested before the class session. Some
questions during class will be directed at specific students and responses to
those questions will weigh particularly heavily in the participation grading.
Other questions will invite answers from whomever feels that she has
something relevant to say. The grade will be based on willingness to
participate and evidence of preparation and thoughtfulness. Each of you will
participate in one specific exercise in class. [25%]
1[
Page refers to space and a half, 12 point Times New Roman type.

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 All exams and memos are to be delivered in electronic form as Word documents;
send them as email attachments to me directly. The filename should be your name plus
the sequence of the assignment; for example the final paper will be #3. I will provide
comments using the “Tracking Changes” mode. Please also provide Powerpoint slides
for the oral presentation that you make in class ; those files should also be sent directly to
me as email attachments.

Required Books
Cancian, M., S. Danziger (eds.) Changing Poverty, Changing Policies Russell
Sage Foundation [referred to as CP2]
Hacker, J. (2002) The Divided Welfare State Cambridge University Press [DWS]
Jencks, C. The Homeless Harvard University 1994

These books should be available from Amazon or the Book Store.Cancian and Danzigeris
dry as dust but it does provide in a compact and rigorous form much of the relevant data
and analysis about poverty and programs that deal with it.
The other readings are available electronically on the course Blackboard web site.
Each reading will appear in a folder with the title of the class.The required readings will
appear without indentation; optional readings will be indented. These folders will have
additional items; they are simply available for your use if you become interested in the
topic.

Illustrative Potential Paper Topics

The ideal paper covers economic, political and normative issues for a single
policy topic. Consider for example "The Child Support Enforcement Program: factors
limiting the effectiveness of paternity establishment programs." The paper would
examine the alternative methods that have been suggested for establishing paternity and
how they may affect behavior and collections, then turn to the value issues involved and
finally discuss political and/or bureaucratic obstacles to specific options. Not all
dimensions would be treated in equal length;
The proposal requirement is a serious one. It is not sufficient to name a topic. In
the past students have encountered problems when they have not established that there is
enough accessible material to produce a paper. Hence you need to have done enough
research that the proposal shows the feasibility, as well as interest, of the topic. The
proposal should be at least one full page in length but no more than two (excluding
references)
Most of the following were successful paper topics in previous years:

Availability of high quality child care for rural low-income families and
implications for school readiness
Effects of Sex-Separated Education for Girls and Implications for Race-Separated
Models of Education
How has No Child Left Behind affected minority and low income children

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 Course Outline and Readings
1. September 9. Introduction and U.S. Demography (emphasis on family formation
and fertility)
Overview of the course; what constitutes social policy and what we can cover in
one semester. Patterns of demographic change (age, location, family composition
etc.).The causes and demographic consequences of higher female labor force
participation. Techniques and limits of population projections.

Questions for Discussion

What are the social and policy consequences of: high percentage of children
growing up with only one parent and of decreased household size? How do these affect
poverty rates? Should the government attempt to influence fertility rates?

Readings
Cancian and Reed Chapter 4 in CP2 (92-108)
Jacobson, Mather and DuPuis (2012)Household Change in the United States
Population Reference Bureau [10 pages]
Kearney and Levine (2012) “Why is the Teen Birth Rate so High in the United
States and Why does it Matter?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 26 (2) 141-166
McFallsPopulation: A Lively IntroductionPopulation Reference Bureau,
2007pp.3-9
Ellwood, D. and C. Jencks (2004) “The Spread of Single-Parent Families in the
United States since 1960” Kennedy School Faculty Research Working Paper Series
(RWP04-008) 40 pages
Optional and Supplemental
Haupt, Kane and Haub (2011) PRB’s Population Handbook (6th edition)
[reference book on demographic terms and concepts.]
Ahlburg, D. “The Census Bureau’s New Projections of the US Population”
Population and Development Review19 (1) March 1993, pp.159-174 [shows how fragile
are forecasts of population]

2. September 16: Immigration

Immigration is both a social policy issue in itself and an influence on social policy
more generally. Patterns of immigration; source countries, demographic characteristics
of immigrants, where they settle. Effects of immigration on composition of U.S.
population. Factors influencing flow of migration..

Questions for discussion

How should the U.S. decide on the number of immigrants to admit and on the
composition of that group? In particular, does the U.S. have obligations to any but its
own citizens/residents? How much can the U.S. affect the flow of new arrivals, as
opposed to just determining the fraction that are legal? What are the long-term
consequences of more permissive immigration policies?

Topic for debate [Did not occur]

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 Immigration reform is one of those topics that over 20 years has recurrently risen
to the top of the political agenda . Once again an Immigration Reform bill is making its
way through Congress, amid heated debate. The debate in our class room will be cool
and analytic.

Readings
Borjas, G. (2004) “Economics of Migration” International Encyclopedia of the
Social and Behavioral Sciences Section 3.4, article 39 (20 pages)
Papademtriou, D. (2013) “The Fundamentals of Immigration Reform” The
American Prospect http://prospect.org/article/fundamentals-immigration-reform[18 pages]
Putnam, R. (2007) E Pluribus Unum: Diversity andCommunity in the Twenty-
first Century” Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 30 – No. 2, [read only pages 137-155]
Martin and Midgley2006“Immigration to the United States: Shaping and
Reshaping America” Population Bulletin (pp.1-25)
Jencks, C. “Who Should Get In?” two part essay in the New York Review of
Books Vol. 48, Nos. 19 and 20 (2001). Part I and Part II (35 pages) [Though these essays
are dated, they capture historical developments very well and raise issues that are just as
pertinent now]
Goodhart, D. “The Discomfort of Strangers” The Guardian Feb. 24, 2004 [10
pages] [provocative essay about immigrants in the UK]
For an annotated list of organizations involved in immigration policy issues see:
http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/pages.aspx?name=critical-thinking-resources-for-
immigration&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
For statistics on immigration flows and on program administration see the
Migration Policy Institute FAQ
page:http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=931

Memo topic provided

3. September 23:The growth of the aged population and its consequences [guest
lecturer: Professor Haaga]
Analysis of the sources of rapid increase in the fraction of the population aged 65
and over and 85 and over. The service demands of the elderly and who meets them.
Principal public programs for the elderly. Political and policy consequences of population
aging.

Questions
Is increased health spending for the aged a social (as opposed to just a budget)
problem? Can (or should) the state shape the relationship between adult children and
elderly parents? Does the growing share of elderly threaten programs for the young?
Should the state encourage retirement at 65 or some similar age?

Readings
Sanderson, W. and Scherbov (2008) Rethinking Age and Aging PRB [15 pages]
Maestas, N. and J. Zissimpoulos (2010) “How Longer work Lives Ease the
Crunch of Population Aging” J. Economic Perspectives 24(1)139-160

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 Longman, P (2010) “Think Again: Global Aging” Foreign Policy [9 pages]
Wilmoth, J. (2011) “Increase of Human Longevity: Past, Present and Future”
Japanese Journal of Population 9(1) pp.155-161
Congressional Budget Office (2005) Global Population Aging in the 21st Century:
Its Economic Implications Only read section on Economic Effects of the Demographic
Transition pp.17-23
Preston, S. (1984)“Children and the Elderly: Divergent Paths for America’s
Dependents”Demography 21 (4) 435-457 [old but classic]

4. September 30:
(a) The Origins of Policy Numbers
Approaches to measurement of major social phenomena. Examples will be drawn
from housing, crime, education, poverty and labor policy. Emphasis is on the dominant
role of surveys; problems of sampling frames, conceptual fuzziness, low response rates
and validity of responses. The politics of policy numbers.

Questions
Under what circumstances is it sufficient to measure rate of change rather than the
size of a problem? How good a measure of homelessness is necessary? What are the
inherent limits of measures of illegal immigration?

Readings
Jencks, C The Homeless pp. 1-20 and pp.128-137 (Derivation of Table 2); read
this just for the methodology.
Cook, Ludwig and Hemenway (1997) “The Gun Debate’s New Mythical Number:
How Many Defensive Gun Uses per Year?” J. Policy Analysis and Management
16(3)463-469
Best, J. (1988)“Missing Children, Misleading Statistics” The Public Interest 92
Summer 84-92
Office of Policy and Planning U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
“Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States:
1990 to 2000” (skim; focus on methodological issues) (20 pages)

(b) Measuring Poverty

The variety of concepts and measures used to describe poverty. Trends in poverty
and income inequality and the factors that have driven them.

Questions
Why do poverty measures focus on income rather than resources or expenditures?
How adequate are existing measures for assessing the effectiveness of anti-poverty
policies?

Readings
Edin, K. and L. Lein Making Ends Meet pp. 20-59 [background; describes how
poor mothers survive. Easy read]

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 Blank, R. (2008) “How to Improve Poverty Measurement in the United States” J.
Policy Analysis and Management 233-254 [skim sections after 249]
Besharov, D.Testimony on Measuring Poverty in America, U.S. Congress, House
Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support

Memo due back

5. October 7. Anti-poverty programs

It is now more than 15 years since the sweeping changes of welfare reform
brought about by the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act. Income support has largely been replaced by work support. How has that affected
the poor?

Topic for Debate

The United States has relied almost exclusively on absolute measures of poverty,
whereas Western Europe has relied almost exclusively on relative poverty measures.
Both have information but if the public and policy makers can only pay attention to one
(which is not an unreasonable view) which should we rely on? Mariana Jordan will argue
for absolute measures. Malia Howell will argue for relative measures.

Readings
Scholz, J.K. “Trends in Income Support” in CP2
Waldfogel, J. “Role of Family Policies in Anti-Poverty Policy” in CP2
Hoynes, Page and Stevens (2005) “Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations”
NBER Working Paper [30 pages]
Conley, D. (2007) “The Geography of Poverty: Rethinking Social Policy” Boston
Review[7 pages]
The Economist (2013) “America’s welfare state is not working nearly as well as
it should” [5 pages]

6. October 14:Delivery Mechanisms

Social insurance can be provided through an array of private as well as public
mechanisms. An examination of America’s unique social policy arrangement.
Discussion of a wide range of various delivery mechanisms.

Topic for Discussion: Child Care Delivery Choices

Students will be formed into four groups for discussion of alternative methods
for delivering delivery of child care services at the federal level. Separate tasking memo
on web site. Fischer, Guo, Wilks, Lacy will lead the groups and present the findings.

Readings: [all except DWS are on the web site in the folder called Delivery Systems]
DWS: ”American Exceptionalism Revisited”, pp. 5-31
Starobin: “The Daddy State” National Journal, 3/28/98
Kosterlitz: “The Ownership Society” National Journal 1/24/04
Thaler: ”Libertarian Paternalism is not an Oxymoron”, AEI, 2003

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 Ellwood: “Values & the Helping Conundrums”, pp14-44;from Poor Support:
Poverty in the American Family
Mkandawne: “Targeting and Universalism in Poverty Reduction”, UN Research
Institute for Social Development, 2005
Moon: “The Moral Basis of the Democratic Welfare State” From Democracy and
the Welfare State edited by Gutman (optional).
Thompson: “The Roles of Social Insurance, Tax Expenditures, Mandates and
Means Testing” pp 9-26 (optional)
Cox: “Block Grants” for National Academy on Aging (optional).

Paper proposals due

7. October 21: Disability

Those with handicap have a clear moral claim to help. But “handicap” turns out
to be a subjective and flexible condition. How views of what constitutes “handicap” and
“help” have changed over time. The development of programs to help and compensate
the handicapped.

Topic for Debate

The relentless rise of the disability rolls has led to calls for substantial changes
that would make disability status both more difficult to enter and easier to leave. David
Autor offers one such plan, which is fairly complicated. Kate McCabe will explain the
plan and Rachel Kaplan will critique it.

Readings
Autor, David(2011) ” The Unsustainable Rise of the Disability Rolls in the United
States: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Options” NBER (24 pages text)
Burkhauser, R.,M. Daly and P. de Jong (2008) “Curing the Dutch Disease:
Lessons for United States Disability Policy” (pp,28-39)
Clegg, Roger
 (1999)“The costly compassion of the ADA” Public Interest;
Summer pp.100-112
Switzer, Jacqueline “Compensation and Rehabilitation” Disabled Rights:
American Disabiltity Policy and the Fight for Equality 2003 pp.44-67.
Switzer, Jacqueline “Table 3 from Compensation & Rehabilitation” p.51-52.
Scotch, R. From Good Will to Civil Rights: Transforming Federal Disability
Policy Chapters 1-3
Kelman, M “The Moral Foundations of Special Education Law” in Finn,
Rotherman and Hokanson (eds) Rethinking Special Education for a New Century pp.77-
84

8. October 28:Education and Training

What can schools do to increase productivity and reduce inequality ?Federal &
state roles in preschool and elementary and secondary education as well as training
programs.

Readings:

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 Ravich, D. (2010) The Death and Life of the Great American School System Basic
Books (Chapters 2-4) [an easy read]
Jacob & Ludwig: Improving Educational Outcomes for Poor Children (CP2)
Holzer: Workforce Development as an Antipoverty Strategy: Up, Down and Back
Up? (CP2)
Schiller, B. (2004) “Education and Ability”, from The Economics of Poverty and
Discrimination, Prentice-Hall,.
Besharov, D. (2005): Head Start’s Broken Promise, AEI

Topic for Debate

No Child Left Behind transformed the federal role in K-12 education. Diane
Ravich, a highly regarded scholar of school reform, in her recent book (above) argues
that the very theory behind NCLB was fundamentally flawed. Certainly, there is much
more awareness now than in 2002 of the limitations of measurement, competition and
accountability to improve American school systems. Charter schools have been a
particularly important in the District of Columbia. Have charter schools helped or hurt
the District’s children? (Parslow, Kane)

9. November 4: Health policy for the non-elderly

Health is viewed differently from other goods and services; the market works less well
but there is a distinctively American struggle over limiting the role of the government.
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents not the end of this
struggle but just another milestone. Examines the market for health care, the problems of
access and pricing for programs that serve the non-elderly poor in particular.

Questions for Discussion

Why does the market work poorly for health care? Should we be concerned that
health care takes a large share of GDP since it provides great gains in wellbeing? Does
society have an obligation to ensure health care for all?

Topic for Debate

No piece of legislation in the last 25 years has been more comprehensive or more
controversial than the Affordable Care Act. Every Republican contender promised to
repeal it and on September 30, 2013 it was the source of the impasse on passing a
Continuing Resolution to keep the government running. In the meantime the ACA has
begun to change various aspects of the American health care system. The focus of this
debate is on just one element, but perhaps the most critical one and certainly the most
inflammatory, the requirement that all residents of the United States obtain health
insurance The point in contention is whether it is good public policy. Emphasis again on
providing criteria for making that decision and representing the criteria, other than legal,
for the two sides. Schober, Gross

Readings

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 Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) Medicaid: A Primer pp.1-30
Garber. A and J. Skinner (2008) “Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?”
J. Economic Perspectives 22(4) 27-50
Glied, S. 2003 “Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again” J. Economic Perspectives
17(2) 125-148
White, Chapin (2010) "The Health Care Reform Legislation: An Overview," The
Economists' Voice: Vol. 7 :Iss. 5, Article 1. (6 pages)
Cutler, David M. (2010) "The Simple Economics of Health Reform," The
Economists' Voice: Vol. 7 :Iss. 5, Article 2.
Aaron, H.J. (2013) “The Future of the ACA: A Debate” speech in Chicago
Tsung-Mei Cheng (2010) “Understanding The 'Swiss Watch' Function Of
Switzerland's Health System” Health Affairs, 29, no.8 pp1442-1451 (optional but a very
interesting read)

10.November 11: Homelessness

Case study in emergence of a new social problem. Liebow's work constitutes an instant
classic of ethnographic description of a population. Jencks book is a fascinating example
of piecing together a variety of sources to describe an elusive phenomenon. Difficulty of
developing effective policies for such a multi-risk population.

Topic for Debate

Is there a housing solution to the homeless problem? Hunt, Mullaney-Loss

Readings
Jencks The Homeless pp.21-40, 61-74, 103-124
Liebow, Eliot Tell Them Who I Am pp.1-49
Burt, M "What Will it Take to End Homelessness" Urban Institute
Culhane, D. & Metraux, S. (2008). Rearranging the deck chairs or reallocating the
lifeboats? Homelessness assistance and its alternatives. Journal of the American Planning
Association, 74, 1.250-259
Walters, J. (2012) “Are Cities' Pledges to End Homelessness Working?”
Governing http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/housing/gov-
homelessness-rising-decade-after-pledges-to-end-it.html

11. November 18: Long Term Care Policy

The cost of long-term care can bankrupt even middle class elderly couples. Yet it is hard
to motivate couples to think about the problem of financing such care at an age when
insurance is affordable. What are the potential solutions to this? How do other countries
manage the problem?

Topic for Debate

Should Medicare cover long-term care? Xiao, Baizer

Readings:

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 Feder, Komisar and Friedland: 2007 “Long Term Care Policy Options for the
Future”, Georgetown University (read pages 1-34 carefully; skim after that)
Brown and Finkelstein (2011): "The Market For Private Long-Term Care
Insurance" NBER (25 pages)
Smith: “The Role of Long Term Care in Health Reform” Heritage Foundation,
2009 congressional testimony (12 pages; skim)
Estes and Weiner: “The Politics of Long-Term Care” The Urban Institute, 1999
German Ministry of Health (2004) Brief Outline of the German Long-term Care
System (6 pages)
Clark: “Additional Health Issues: Long Term Care”, pp 316-343, The Economics
of an Aging Society, 2004 (optional)
Alper & Gibson: “Integrating Acute & Long Term Care for the Elderly”, Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, 2001 (optional)

First draft of paper due

12. November 25: Public and Private Health Insurance for the Elderly

Historical evolution of US health policies for the elderly. Discussion of Medicare debate
and future challenges. How should Medicare and Medicaid be co-ordinated? Part D, the
Prescription Plan for Medicare recipients, has proven politically very popular and
extremely expensive. How should it be evaluated in terms of equity and efficiency?

Topic for Debate

Social Security can be saved; it faces only normative and political obstacles. But can
Medicare be saved? Berday-Sachs, Chen

Readings:
DWS: pp.175-269 (skim).
National Research Council (2010): “Medicare and Medicaid”, from Choosing our
Nation’s Fiscal Future, pp.75-102
Aaron, H.J. (2012) “The Current State of Medicare” Congressional testimony (15
pages)
Kaiser Foundation (2012): “Medicare at a Glance”, “Medicare Advantage”,
“Medicare and Rx Drugs” (optional). Available on line at: http://kff.org/medicare/fact-
sheet/medicare-at-a-glance-fact-sheet
Duggan, Healy and Morton (2008) “Providing Prescription Drug Coverage
to the Elderly: America’s Experiment with Medicare Part D” J. Economic Perspectives
22(4) 69-92

13. December 2. Presentations

Making a presentation is very helpful for understanding the strengths and
weaknesses of your paper, which is why I schedule it before the end of the semester.
There are 21 students in the class so not all presentations can be made in the regular class
time. Some of the presentations will be made at a different time in the same week. We
will work out a mutually convenient second period.

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 Final draft of paper due

14. December 9. How do other wealthy nations deal with poverty alleviation and
income inequality?
Other nations have very different approaches to reducing poverty, providing
education and helping the elderly. These differences reflect variations in history, culture
and institutional arrangements. Examining how other countries deal with these matters
can inform US debates.

Questions
What are the sources and consequences of the more redistributive policies of
Western European nations? How do we learn from the experiences of nations that have
very different histories, attitudes, governmental and economic structures? How will
Western European countries change social policy in face of their long-term fiscal crisis?

Topic for Debate

The United States is almost unique among rich Western nations in its refusal to
mandate paid parental leave. Should the US move toward paid maternal and or parental
leave? This should draw on the experiences of other countries. Peightel, Ogle,

Akramov will present on inequality and social policy in Uzbekistan.

Readings
Jencks “Does Inequality Matter?” Daedalus 2002 49-65
Gornick, J. and Meyers, M. “Lesson-Drawing in Family Policy: Media Reports
and Empirical Evidence about European Developments” J. Comparative Policy Analysis:
Research and Practice 3 2001 31-57 (scan)
Waldfogel, J. "A Cross-National Perspective on Policies to Promote Investments
in Children" Joint Center for Poverty Research, August 2002 (20 pages).
Letablier “Fertility and Family Policies in France” J. Population and Social
Security (Population) Supplement to Vol. 1 245-261 [skim; portrays an unusually rich set
of programs for mothers of young children]
Siegelman, R. "Welfare and Dependency in Switzerland" Public Interest (1986),
#82 pp.106-121. [old and flawed but interesting]
Alesina, Glaeser and Sacerdote Brookings Papers on Economic Policy 2001) 187-
247 skim; skip pages 203-208 [Theory section])

Final exam handed out December 10, due back December 17

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