GOVT 6021

Poverty and Social Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

Poverty is an enduring phenomenon that baffles policymakers and confounds those who would offer simple solutions. This course explores the causes of poverty in the United States and analyzes the various policy strategies meant to address it. The first part of the course will assess the economic, social, and cultural theories that scholars have offered as explanations of persistent poverty while the second segment will examine specific policies related to welfare, labor markets, urban neighborhoods, family structure and the criminal justice system. Through all this, we will foreground the consequences of policy for the well-being of the poor and the role that the poor themselves play in shaping and responding to policy environments.

When Offered Fall.

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