Prof. Gary Mucciaroni
Mr. Justin Gollob
442 Gladfelter Hall
440 Gladfelter Hall
215+204-6195
215+204-7258
gmucciar@temple.edu
jgollob@astro.temple.edu
Office Hours: Tues, 3-5pm
Office Hours: Weds, 1-2:30pm
This course examines the causes, politics and public policies related to the problem of poverty in the United States. The course is divided into three parts. Part I addresses the nature and causes of poverty. Where is poverty more prevalent and who experiences it? Why does poverty exist? Is poverty rooted in the structure of the economy and society, a "culture of poverty" among people who are poor, or in government policy? Part II addresses the political aspects of poverty. What do public opinion polls reflect about American beliefs and attitudes about those who live in poverty and efforts to help them? How does media coverage shape public opinion? How can social programs be designed to maximize public support for them? What organizations advocate on behalf of those who experience poverty? How do legislative and bureaucratic institutions shape and limit what can be done to help them? How do people who are poor convert their needs into demands on government? How does the design of different welfare programs affect the ability of welfare clients to participate in the programs and clients’ perceptions of agency responsiveness? What is the impact of clients’ perceptions of agency responsiveness and what is likely to happen if they challenge agency decisions? What political forces and actors brought about the fundamental changes in welfare policy legislated in the 1990s? Finally, in Part III we look at whether government should and can do anything about poverty. What have been the impacts of the welfare reform law adopted in 1996? Has it succeeded in reaching its goals of reducing the welfare rolls and helping welfare recipients become self-sufficient? Has it helped in bettering the lives of people who experience poverty broadly? What alternative policies might be effective in ameliorating poverty and the political obstacles to adopting them? How can social insurance, tax, education, employment and minimum wage policies be designed to reduce poverty?
These questions are addressed in a conventional seminar-style format as well as in an experiential learning component under Cooperative Education, in which students will serve internships in governmental and non-profit organizations that are involved in delivering services and advocating on behalf of people who are disadvantaged.
PS 153: Requirements for the Politics of Poverty:
Three credits are earned through completion of PS153: The Politics of Poverty. The seminar meets on Wednesdays from 2:40-5:00pm. The grade for the seminar is broken down as follows:
Reaction Papers*
20%
Oral Report on Internship Organization**
20%
Attendance and Participation in Seminar Discussions***
30%
Take Home Examination (due at end of semester)
30%
* Each week students are responsible for turning in a reaction paper based on the assigned reading. These assignments are part of the preparatory work that students should do for their final exam and for the weekly seminar discussions. they should be no longer than one page and are due at the beginning of the seminar session. These essays should "react" to, rather than simply restate the reading. Make an effort to analyze the main argument and respond to it on the basis of your knowledge or experience. Reaction papers longer than one page will not be accepted.
**Towards the end of the semester each student is required to make an oral presentation of 10-15 minutes concerning their internship experience and their evaluation of the organization for which they worked.
***Students are expected to contribute to weekly seminar discussions,
particularly the discussions of required reading assignments.
Requirements for PS 372/373, Cooperative Education:
Three credits are earned by serving an internship. The grade for this part of the course will be constituted as follows:
Journal and Log of the Internship (at least one page per week working
in the internship)* 30%
Research Paper on your particular organization (due at end of semester)**
40%
Work Requirement (verified by the Teaching Assistant at 8-10 hrs. per
week) 30%
* The Journal and Log are to be submitted to Mr. Gollob every second week of the semester, beginning on January 29th. Work Plan due on January 29th, Mid-Semester Report due on March 5th, and Final Site Summary due at end of semester.
** Approximately 10 pages that should address the following issues: the history, purposes and specific goals of the organization, the clientele that it serves, the principal activities that it undertakes, how it relates to other organizations and individuals in its environment, and how effective it has been in meeting its goals. Include any relevant information that is included in the two handouts entitled "Understanding the Culture of your Organization" (1) and (2). For further information, see Mr. Gollob.
Students must submit assignments on time. If you cannot complete an
assignment on time for a catastrophic reason, an extension may be granted
if such an extension is requested at least 24 hours before the due date
of the assignment. The due date of an assignment is too late to ask for
an extension. If someone is turning in an assignment for you, be sure to
make an extra copy for yourself and to instruct that person to take the
paper to the Political Science Department Office and have a secretary sign
the paper attesting to the day and time it was turned in. Late reaction
papers will not be accepted for any reason.
Partial List of Readings
Available at Zavelle’s Bookstore, 1520 North Broad St.:
William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the
Underclass, and Public Policy.
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Charles Murray, Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-80
Joe Soss, Unwanted Claims: The Politics of Participation in the
U.S. Welfare System.
Martin Gilens, Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics
of Antipoverty Policy.
Benjamin I. Page and James R. Simmons, What Government Can Do: Dealing
with Poverty and Inequality.
Schedule of Seminar Topics and Assigned Readings:
# means that the reading is only available on reserve at Paley Library.
Jan 22 Introduction and Organization of the Course
Orientation for Interns
Part I The Problem of Poverty and Its Causes
Jan 29 How many People Experience Poverty? Who Are They?
Reading: Page and Simmons,
Chapter 2.
Timothy M. Smeeding, Lee Rainwater and Gary Burtless, "U.S. Poverty in
a Cross-
National Context," in Sheldon Danziger and Robert Haveman, eds., Understanding
Poverty, chapter 5.#
Feb. 5 The "Working Poor"
Reading: Ehrenreich, entire.
Feb. 12 Conservative Explanations for Poverty
Reading: Murray, entire.
Robert Greenstein, "Losing Faith in Losing Ground," The New Republic
(March
25,
1985), pp. 12-17.#
Feb. 19 Liberal Explanations for Poverty
Reading: Wilson, chapters
1-4.
John Yinger, "Housing Discrimination and Residential Segregation as Causes
of
Poverty," in Sheldon Danziger and Robert Haveman, eds., Understanding
Poverty,
chapter 5.#
Part II. The Politics of Poverty
Feb. 26 The Politics of Poverty: An overview
Reading: Page and Simmons, chapter 3, pp. 61-75, chapter 9,
pp. 300-308.
Wilson, chapters 5-7
Theda Skocpol, "Targeting Within Universalism: Politically Viable Policies
to Combat Poverty in the U.S.," in Christopher Jenks and Paul
Peterson, eds., The UrbanUnderclass, pp. 411-459.#
Mar. 5 The Politics of Poverty: Public Opinion
Reading: Gilens, chapters 1-4.
Spring Break
Mar. 19 The Politcis of Poverty: Mass Media
Reading: Gilens chapters 5-9.
Mar. 26 The Politics of Welfare Provision
Reading: Soss, chapters, 1-4.
Apr. 2 The Politics of Welfare Provision
Reading: Soss, chapters, 5-8.
Part III. Public Policies: Welfare Reform and Beyond
Apr. 9 The Politics of Welfare Reform
Reading: TBA
Apr. 16 Implementation and Impacts of Welfare Reform
Reading: Demetrios Caraley, "Ending Welfare As We Know It," Political Science
Quarterly, vol.116 (Winter 2001), pp. 525-560.# http://www.psqonline.org
The CQ Researcher, "Issues, Viewpoints, and Trends," Welfare Reform,
edited by Ann Chih Lin, chapter 1.#
Isabel Sawhill, et. al., "Results to Date"; Isabel Sawhill, et. al, Problems
and Issues forReauthorization,"; Ron Haskins and Wendell Primus,
"Welfare Reform and Poverty," and "Robert Moffitt, "From
Welfare to
Work: What the Evidence Shows," in Isabel Sawhill, eds, et.al,
Welfare Reform and Beyond, chapters 2, 3, 7 and 9.# chs. 2 and
3 online
at http://www.brook.edu
Apr. 23 Beyond Welfare Reform: Other Policies for Attacking Poverty
Reading: Page and Simmons, selected chapters TBA.
Final Exam Handed Out
Apr.30 Wrapping Up
Reading: Same as for Apr. 23rd
Internship Paper Due
Oral Presentations
May 7 Wrapping Up
Final Exam Due
Oral Presentations