Jacob S. Hacker , The Divided Welfare State. The Battle over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States

Abstract

The divided welfare state is the first comprehensive political analysis of America's system of public and private social benefits. Everyone knows that the American welfare state is less expensive and extensive, later to develop and slower to grow, than comparable programs abroad. American social spending is as high as spending in many European nations. What is distinctive is that so many social welfare duties are handled by the private sector with government support. With historical reach and statistical and cross-national evidence, The divided welfare state demonstrates that private social benefits have not been shaped by public policy, but have deeply influenced the politics of public social programs-to produce a social policy framework whose political and social effects are strikingly different than often assumed. The politics of public and private social benefits -- Connected at birth: public and private pensions before 1945 -- Sibling rivalry: public and private pensions after 1945 -- Seeds of exceptionalism: public and private health insurance before 1945 -- The elusive cure: public and private health insurance after 1945 -- The formation of the American welfare regime -- The future of the American welfare regime.