Nearly all Americans—all but 4 percent—report having benefited from at least one of the twenty-one social policies, a grouping that includes both direct payments and services from government as well as social benefits administered through the tax code. — 100: 1375-1377
The rhetoric of recent years that has divided Americans into “makers” and “takers” misses the mark: it is more appropriate to say that Americans of all income groups have relied on social provision at various points in their lives. — 106: 1455-1457
Scholars have argued that eligibility rules featuring income ceilings, otherwise known as “means-testing,” treat individuals in a manner that is demeaning and stigmatizing and therefore are likely to foster social stratification or “second-class citizenship.” By contrast, policies that encompass broad swathes of the population through more universalistic eligibility criteria may bestow dignity and respect on beneficiaries, incorporating them as honored members of the political community. — 130: 1793-1797
The most consistent influence on citizens’ assessments of government emanates from their unfavorable perceptions of welfare, views which are themselves shaped by social identities. As a result, in spite of the frequency and near ubiquity of citizens’ policy experiences, the government-citizen disconnect prevails. — 126: 1734-1737
Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels, in their book Democracy for Realists, argue that group affiliations play a powerful role in motivating political viewpoints, often greater than that of rational deliberation. They explain that people may share with others of the same race, gender, religion, or place a sense of “linked fate,” viewing themselves as faring similarly in society and having common interests or a similar role.19 Accordingly citizens formulate their political perspectives in the context of such groups. — 131: 1807-1811
These results suggest that it is not only the working poor, those just above the “fiscal cliff,” who harbor antipathy toward welfare; rather, this hostility pervades the middle class generally—people who may feel that life has been difficult in recent decades, as their incomes have stagnated or grown only a little, even while their families have increased their participation in the labor market. — 134: 1850-1852
At each income level, whites are significantly more likely to disapprove of welfare than African Americans as well as Asians and Pacific Islanders.32 The long legacy of racial politics triggered by debates over social provision, particularly in distinctions about the deserving versus the undeserving poor, appears to be manifest in this result, channeling racial resentment.33 — 134: 1853-1856
repeated usage of visible policies was not associated with any other enhanced views of government among the seven indicators probed here. Extensive usage of non-means-tested visible policies shows no relationship to any broader evaluations of government. — 145: 2008-2010
Ironically, the policies associated with some impact on broader views about government are those that tend to be the most stigmatized and in which government’s role as a provider may be most evident—the visible means-tested policies. Repeated usage of these policies conveyed to recipients that government made a positive difference in their lives. Yet, beyond that, multiple uses of neither visible nor submerged policies appeared to have any bearing on enhanced attitudes about government. In the case of the means-tested variant of submerged policies, moreover, accumulated usage failed to mitigate more negative views of government, leaving recipients more resentful than others and assured only that they pay a fair amount of taxes. In sum, despite the considerable resources committed to each of these policy types, with modest exceptions, the impact of policy usage on citizens’ perceptions appears to evaporate, at least over the long term. Specific policies may make a difference in attitudes, as some studies have shown, but accumulated memories of policy usage seem to exert little bearing on broad attitudes about government. — 148: 2040-2048
These results, drawn from survey data during the final months of the George W. Bush presidency, might be attributable to a phenomenon that Marc Hetherington and Thomas Rudolph have observed: that as partisan polarization has increased, trust in government has vacillated with the party in power. — 151: 2085-2087
The impact of these factors pales, furthermore, compared to the role of individuals’ views about welfare. Antipathy to welfare policy derails many from adopting more salutary views about government; indeed, although “welfare as we know it” was eradicated two decades ago and fewer than 1 percent of Americans now benefit from this program, its image lives on and continues to operate as a major force in driving hostility not only toward social provision but also toward government generally. — 154: 2135-2139
The procedures and rules the states adopt vary in harshness, and the frontline caseworkers implementing those rules and procedures vary in how they use their discretion to decide when and how severely to impose sanctions. Proponents of the approach claim that it advances the civic incorporation of the poor, but Soss, Fording, and Schram find that experiences of the stricter versions significantly deter such engagement. — 156: 2157-2160
Whereas other forms of direct social provision tend to be underutilized, EITC now has a high take-up rate ranging between 77 and 81 percent, presumably for reasons related to its design and delivery.90 — 158: 2186-2188