The Hidden Side of the American Welfare State
Students of the American welfare state have regularly invoked comparisons with European welfare states. These comparisons, seldom flattering, have contributed to a portrait that is by now quite familiar to academics and policy makers. The American welfare state is smaller than most of its European counterparts, based on the percentage of gross national product (GNP) devoted to social welfare. It is less inclusive, less generous, and more fragmented. Core social programs generally developed later in the United States and in a few notable cases, like national health insurance, never materialized. On any number of counts, the American welfare state appears exceptional. Social scientists have been trying to explain the reasons for the peculiar structure and development of the American welfare state for the better part of three decades. The number of explanations offered has been impressive, the intensity of scholarly debate often high. Nevertheless, virtually all of these studies have been hampered by a narrow conception of governmental capacity. By equating the welfare state with direct spending programs like Social Security, scholars have neglected indirect tools of social policy such as loans, loan guarantees, and tax expenditures. This oversight has meant that scholars have