The Price of Citizenship: Redefining the American Welfare State

The culmination of twenty years of research and writing, The Price of Citizenship traces the evolution of the welfare state from colonial relief programs to the war on poverty to our own age of "compassionate conservatism." Historian Michael B. Katz argues that in the last decades three great forces-a ferocious war on dependence; the devolution of authority from the federal government to the states; and the application of market models to social policy-have affected every element of the social contract and redefined both Republican and Democratic policy and rhetoric. Katz shows how these changes are propelling America toward a future of increased inequality and decreased security, while transforming citizenship from a right of birth to a privilege reserved for the fully employed. A magisterial overview, incisive and bold, The Price of Citizenship is a new and indispensable classic work on American social policy.