The sympathetic state : disaster relief and the origins of the American welfare state / Michele Landis Dauber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dauber, Michele Landis, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic assistance, Domestic--Law and legislation--United States.

Economic assistance, Domestic--Law and legislation.

Welfare state.

History.

United States.

Welfare state--United States--History.

Disaster relief--Government policy--United States.

Disaster relief--Government policy.

Physical Description:

xvi, 353 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Summary:

Is unemployment soared during the Depression, FDR's relief and social security programs were attacked in Congress and the courts. New Dealers responded by citing a long tradition-dating back to 1790 and now largely forgotten-of federal disaster aid. In The Sympathetic State, Michele Landis Dauber traces the roots of the American welfare state to the earliest days of the republic, when relief was forthcoming for victims of fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

New Dealers drew on this precedent to frame the Depression as a disaster afflicting citizens through no fault of their own. Though advocates for social spending were successful in defending the New Deal, their strategy created the weak American welfare state-torn between the desire to relieve suffering and the suspicion that those in need are responsible for their own deprivation. Book jacket.

Contents:

Disaster relief and the welfare state

Building the sympathetic state

Innovations

The spreading delta

Crafting the Depression

The bomb-proof power

The well-beaten path

We lost our all

Living in a sympathetic state.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226923482

0226923487

9780226923499

0226923495

OCLC:

783150328