The delegated welfare state: medicare, markets, and the governance of social policy

In The Delegated Welfare State, the first book in the Oxford Studies in Postwar American Political Development series, Andrea Campbell and Kimberly Morganuse the exampke of Medicare to tackle the federal government's increasing propensity in recent times to outsource governmental functions to the private sector. Why are so many American social programs delegated to private actors? Andwhat are the consequences for efficiency, accountability, and the well-being of beneficiaries? The Delegated Welfare State examines the development of the American welfare state through the lens of delegation: how policymakers have repeatedly avoided direct governmental provision of benefits and services, instead turning to non-state actors for the governance of social programs. More recent versions,such as the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, delegate responsibility to consumers themselves, who must choose from an array of private providers in social welfare marketplaces. Utilizing a case study of Medicare, along withthe 2009-10 health care reform, authors Andrea Campbell and Kimberly Morganargue that the prevalence of delegated governance derives from fundamental contradictions in American public opinion. Americans want both social programs and small government, leaving policy makers in a bind. In response, they contract out public programs to non-state actors as a way to mask the role of the state. Such arrangements also pull in interest group allies--the providers of these programs--who help pass policies in a political landscape fraught with obstacles. Although delegatedgovernance has been politically expedient, enabling the passage and growth ofgovernment programs in an anti-government political climate, it raises questions about fraud, abuse, administrative effectiveness, and accountability. Social welfare marketplaces also suffer due to the difficulties individualshave in making choices about the benefits they need. In probing both the causes and consequences of delegated governance,The Delegated Welfare State offers a novel interpretation of both American social welfare politics and the nature of the American state. INDICE: List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgements Chapter One. Introduction The Concept of Delegated Governance The Case Study of Medicare The Methodology and Organization of This Book Chapter Two. Exploring the Delegated Welfare State Conceptualizing the Delegated Welfare State What Does the Delegated Welfare State Look Like? A Cross-National Perspective on Delegated Governance Why Did the Delegated Welfare State Emerge in the US? Does ItMatter How Social Programs Are Administered? Conclusion Chapter Three. Medicare and the Delegated Welfare State in the Post-War Era The Emergence of the Delegated Welfare State Delegating the Governance of Medicare Conclusion Chapter Four. The Rise of the Market Reform Movement The Complex Politics of WelfareState Privatization The Free Market Movement in Health Care The Politics of Marketization Conclusion Chapter Five. Crafting the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 Delegated Governance in the MMA The Political Context: Polarization,

• ISBN: 978-0-19-973035-3
• Editorial: Oxford University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 336
• Fecha Publicación: 03/11/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés