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American Social Welfare Policy: A Pluralist Approach, 9th edition

Published by Pearson (February 1, 2022) © 2023

  • Howard Karger
  • David Stoesz

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For courses in social welfare policy.

Current coverage of the forces shaping American social welfare policy

American Social Welfare Policy uses a policy analysis framework to examine national and international social welfare policy. The pluralist approach gives students the background they need to understand core social welfare concepts, grasp the social, political, and economic forces impacting social welfare policy, and analyze the major programs that make up the U.S. welfare state.

The 9th Edition features a new chapter on education and social policy. Extensive updates throughout the text explore the effects of recent domestic and international events on social welfare policy.

Hallmark features of this title

  • A political economy perspective examines how the interaction of politics and the economy shapes the American welfare state.
  • Coverage of major institutional actors includes the nonprofit, corporate and government sectors. Clear explanations help students sort out who does what and show the holistic nature of the social welfare system.
  • A unique chapter on food policy, environmental policy and sustainability issues examines the effects of climate change on food production and the population.
  • A chapter on international social welfare policy investigates the influence of global capitalism.
  • Spotlights highlight programs and news related to key chapter topics.
  • Discussion Questions encourage students to reflect on what they learned and test their knowledge.

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: Chapter on education explores how educational access and quality are major determinants of who will be poor and what opportunities will be available to them. Both university-level and K-12 public education are investigated.
  • NEW: Full discussions of the impact of the Trump administration on social welfare policy are included in every chapter.
  • NEW: Coverage of the impacts of COVID-19 on social welfare policy.
  • UPDATED/NEW: Research, data and discussions reflect the 2020 election results, initial stages of policies related to social work, recent developments in Biden's stimulus packages, Biden's environmental policy, the rise in extremist groups, the reinstatement of transgender rights in the military, the Me Too movement and the increased divisiveness in American society.
  • NEW: Open-ended questions in the Spotlight features offer opportunities to explore issues in more depth.

The LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank streamlines assignments and grading

  • NEW: Automatically graded chapter tests can be assigned from a packaged file. Questions give students feedback and model responses based on their answers.

PART I. AMERICAN SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY

  1. Social Policy and the American Welfare State
  2. The Origins of American Social Welfare
  3. Social Welfare Policy Research
  4. Discrimination and Stigma in American Society
  5. Poverty in America

PART II. THE VOLUNTARY AND FOR-PROFIT SECTORS

  1. The Voluntary Sector Today
  2. Privatization and Human Service Corporations

PART III. THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR

  1. The Making of Governmental Policy
  2. Tax Policy and Income Distribution
  3. Social Insurance Programs
  4. Public Assistance Programs
  5. The American Health Care System
  6. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Policy
  7. Criminal Justice
  8. Child Welfare Policy
  9. Housing Policies
  10. The Politics of Food Policy and Rural Life

PART IV. THE AMERICAN WELFARE STATE IN PERSPECTIVE

  1. Social Policy and Education
  2. The American Welfare State in International Perspective

About our authors

Howard Karger and David Stoesz have been friends and colleagues for almost four decades. In addition to nine editions of American Social Welfare Policy, they have coauthored three other books: The Politics of Child Abuse in America (with Lela Costin; Oxford University Press, 1996), Reconstructing the American Welfare State (Rowman and Littlefield, 1992), and A Dream Deferred (with Terry Carrillo; Transaction, 2010). Howard's book Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy (Berret-Koehler, 2005) examines the financial practices and products that exploit millions of American families. The book won the 2006 Independent Publishers Award in Finance/Investment/Economics. David's book Quixote's Ghost: The Right, the Liberati, and the Future of Social Policy (Oxford University Press, 2005) explains how conservatives have assumed control of domestic policy and proposes a new framework for social policy, winning the 2006 Pro-Humanitate Literary Award. Subsequently, David published Building Better Social Programs (Oxford University Press, 2020) and Welfare State 3.0: Social Policy after the Pandemic (Routledge, 2021). Both David and Howard have been recipients of Fulbright Research Fellowships. David currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Howard lives in Kailua, Hawai'i.

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