Why Americans Hate Welfare

by Gilens, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780226293646
• ISBN10: 0226293645
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-24
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Tackling one of the most volatile issues in contemporary politics, Martin Gilens's work punctures myths and misconceptions about welfare policy, public opinion, and the role of the media in both. Why Americans Hate Welfare shows that the public's views on welfare are a complex mixture of cynicism and compassion; misinformed and racially charged, they nevertheless reflect both a distrust of welfare recipients and a desire to do more to help the "deserving" poor. "With one out of five children currently living in poverty and more than 100,000 families with children now homeless, Gilens's book is must reading if you want to understand how the mainstream media have helped justify, and even produce, this state of affairs." --Susan Douglas, The Progressive "Gilens's well-written and logically developed argument deserves to be taken seriously." --Choice "A provocative analysis of American attitudes towards 'welfare.'. . . [Gilens] shows how racial stereotypes, not white self-interest or anti-statism, lie at the root of opposition to welfare programs." -Library Journal

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
The American Welfare State: Public Opinion and Public Policy	11	(20)
Individualism, Self-Interest, and Opposition to Welfare	31	(29)
Racial Attitudes, the Undeserving Poor, and Opposition to Welfare	60	(20)
Assessing Alternative Explanations: Statistical Models of Welfare Attitudes	80	(22)
The News Media and the Racialization of Poverty	102	(31)
Media Distortions: Causes and Consequences	133	(21)
Racial Stereotypes and Public Responses to Poverty	154	(20)
Beyond the Attitude Surveys: Public Opinion and Antipoverty Policy	174	(30)
The Politics of the American Welfare State	204	(13)
Appendix	217	(18)
Notes	235	(30)
Bibliography	265	(16)
Index	281