From Publishers Weekly
Arguably the leading historian of American social welfare, Katz (In the Shadow of the Poorhouse; The Undeserving Poor; etc.) has written a defining history of post-Nixon transformations of America's welfare state, including its nonprofit and private sectors (private pensions, health insurance, etc.). Three forces drive the welfare revolutions, he says a savage, selective war on dependence, a push for devolution of power from the federal level to the states and an often na‹ve, ill-conceived use of market models shaping a "master narrative of policy reform" involving "the discovery of a crisis of numbers and costs (rising rolls); the assignment of blame to morally suspect persons (the undeserving); the reduction of program size through controlling eligibility more than reducing benefits (reform); the measurement of achievement by fewer beneficiaries (success); and the failure to track the fate of those denied help (willful ignorance)." Katz's clear articulation of underlying forces and patterns never overwhelms the rich, compelling detail of specific histories involving workers' compensation, disability insurance, unemployment, medical care, food security, urban policy, urban housing, homelessness, Social Security and welfare. Highlights of earlier history serve to dispel common myths (there was no golden age of faith-based private charity), explain the genesis of modern policies (always products of conflict and compromise) and provide perspective for current proposals (which often echo past mistakes). Katz quotes and refers to a wide range of experts as well as political actors, producing a vivid sense of immediacy matched with keen reflection. Without preaching, Katz meticulously reveals the folly of emulating disintegrative forces rather than balancing them. This is a masterpiece of contemporary history. (Apr.)Forecast: This will be important reading for people in the social welfare fields as well as interested citizens, and a six-city author tour will help bring the book to public attention.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In this exhaustive historical and political study of welfare in 20th-century America, political scientist Katz (Improving Poor People) focuses on the destructive influence of the market economy on social welfare programs. He argues that "the market's radical individualism, its processes of marginalization and exclusion, and its subversion of the public sphere" has a "corrosive impact" on our society because it "threatens our national cohesion" the very basis of citizenship. He deplores the transfer of political authority from the federal government to the states and worries about our country's future in an era when such benefits of citizenship as healthcare, unemployment compensation, and aid for the elderly will be denied those most needing public assistance. Well documented and passionately argued, this lucid and persuasive defense of public welfare insists that undoing the welfare state will change the reality of American citizenship, making it not a right but a privilege open only to those with money. The effect will irreparably tear apart the country's social fabric and increase the divide between poor and wealthy Americans. For academic and most medium and large public libraries. Jack Forman, San Diego Mesa Coll. Lib. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Katz is a premier social historian of U.S. public policy, with a focus on welfare and education policy. After sketching "The Invention of Welfare" in the American context, Katz describes the combination of programs--social insurance, employee benefits, and the much-maligned "welfare"--that constituted "The American Welfare State" as of 1980. He then examines how that structure has changed, discussing the changing American city; the Family Support Act of 1986; "Governors as Welfare Reformers"; deficits as a guarantor of austerity; privatization of government functions; and the "end of paternalism" in employer-sponsored benefit plans. (He also explores changes in workers' compensation, disability and unemployment insurance, Social Security, health care, and the few remaining "poverty programs.") For Katz, these changes, capped by elimination of "welfare as we know it" in 1996, "signaled the victory of three great forces--the war on dependence, the devolution of public authority, and the application of market models to public policy." Together, these forces are narrowing and devaluing citizenship and pushing unemployed and underemployed Americans to the margins of our democracy. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Katz writes with a passion for the downtrodden and dispossessed, the intensity of which is buttressed by an array of facts and figures that dispel anecdotal blather."-Alan Miller, The Christian Science Monitor

"An instant classic. The Price of Citizenship is the first comprehensive examination of the attack on welfare...remarkably powerful and richly detailed."-Paul Rosenberg, The Denver Post

The definitive examination of social welfare in America, hailed as "a tour de force"--William Julius Wilson



Review
"Katz writes with a passion for the downtrodden and dispossessed, the intensity of which is buttressed by an array of facts and figures that dispel anecdotal blather."-Alan Miller, The Christian Science Monitor

"An instant classic. The Price of Citizenship is the first comprehensive examination of the attack on welfare...remarkably powerful and richly detailed."-Paul Rosenberg, The Denver Post

The definitive examination of social welfare in America, hailed as "a tour de force"--William Julius Wilson



Review
"Katz writes with a passion for the downtrodden and dispossessed, the intensity of which is buttressed by an array of facts and figures that dispel anecdotal blather."-Alan Miller, The Christian Science Monitor

"An instant classic. The Price of Citizenship is the first comprehensive examination of the attack on welfare...remarkably powerful and richly detailed."-Paul Rosenberg, The Denver Post

The definitive examination of social welfare in America, hailed as "a tour de force"--William Julius Wilson



Book Description
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.



About the Author
Michael B. Katz is a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of ten books, including The Underserving Poor and In the Shadow of the Poorhouse. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Oquossoc, Maine.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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 into a privilege reserved for the fully employed. A magisterial overview, incisive and bold, The Price of Citizenship is sure to become an indispensable work on American social policy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Paul Rosenberg

The Price of Citizenship is the first comprehensive examination of the attack on welfare . . . remarkably powerful and richly detailed. —The Denver Post

Alan Miller