SOCIOLOGY 222



STATE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY:
PROFITS AND POVERTY IN
THE WELFARE STATE


 

PROFESSOR GEORGE E. MCCARTHY

KENYON COLLEGE
OLOF PALME HOUSE

SPRING 2004


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This mid-level course on political economy and economic history will examine the social and political assumptions that ground conservative, liberal, and Marxist theories of the State. It will also analyze the structural and institutional roles of the modern state in advanced industrial societies: (1) the state's role in maintaining economic growth and industrial accumulation (monetary, budgetary, and taxation policies); (2) political legitimation and social equilibrium (poverty programs and welfare state); (3) and international economic and political stability, especially in the Third World (International Monetary Fund and military intervention). More specifically, issues to be discussed include an examination of the underlying causes of modern economic problems in the 1970s and 1980s, social policy and its effect on income and wealth distribution, Reaganomics and poverty, the effects of state budgetary and taxation policies on economic growth and class power, state policy toward labor, multinational corporations, and economic concentration, the dismantling of the welfare state in the 1980s, and, finally, the modern state and democracy in America. We will trace the development of the welfare state from its historical roots in Roosevelt's New Deal to the changes brought about by the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. Students will be shown how to use government documents in the library to inquire further into these issues. Readings will be from M. Friedman, K. Phillips, B. Harrison, B. Bluestone, D. Gordon, F. Piven, R. Cloward, C. Lasch, J. O'Connor, and J. Habermas.


REQUIRED READINGS

M. Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
B. Bluestone and B. Harrison, The Great U-Turn
K. Phillips, The Politics of Rich and Poor
E. Berkowitz, America's Welfare State
H. Sklar, Chaos or Community
F. Piven and R. Cloward, The New Class Warfare: Reagan's Attack on the Welfare State and its Consequences
C. Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism
D. Schweickart, Against Capitalism


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

There will be a mid-term and final examination. Questions will be given out prior to the test. Class attendance is required, as is participation in class discussions. The goal of the course is to encourage students to become more actively involved in their own education and enlightenment. The final grade will be the result of 1/3 mid-term, 1/3 final examination, and 1/3 class participation.



OVERVIEW OF SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS

WEEKS

1. Milton Friedman Capitalism and Freedom ch. 1, 2, 10-13
2. Bennett Harrison and Barry Bluestone The Great U-Turn: Corporate Restructuring and the Polarizing of America
3. Bennett Harrison and Barry Bluestone The Great U-Turn: Corporate Restructuring and the Polarizing of America
4. David Gordon Fat and Mean: The Corporate Squeeze of Working Americans and the Myth of Managerial "Downsizing"
5. David Gordon Fat and Mean: The Corporate Squeeze of Working Americans and the Myth of Managerial "Downsizing"
6. Newt Gingrich Contract with America
7. David Ellwood Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family
8. David Ellwood Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family
9. Frances Piven and Richard Cloward The New Class War: Reagan's Attack on the Welfare State and Its Consequences
10. Robert Holsworth and J. Harry Wray American Politics and Everyday Life
11. Robert Holsworth and J. Harry Wray American Politics and Everyday Life
12. Martin Carnoy and Derek Shearer Economic Democracy: The Challenge of the 80s
13. Martin Carnoy and Derek Shearer Economic Democracy: The Challenge of the 80s
14. Jürgen Habermas "Technology and Science as `Ideology,'" in Toward a Rational Society


OVERVIEW OF SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS FROM PREVIOUS COURSES

    Spring 2002, Spring 2000, Spring 2000