Deserving And Entitled: Social Constructions And Public Policy (suny Series In Public Policy)

Public policy in the United States is marked by a contradiction between the American ideal of equality and the reality of an underclass of marginalized and disadvantaged people who are widely viewed as undeserving and incapable. Deserving and Entitled provides a close inspection of many different policy arenas, showing how the use of power and the manipulation of images have made it appear both natural and appropriate that some target populations benefit from policy, while others do not. These social constructions of deservedness and entitlement, unless challenged, become amplified over time and institutionalized into permanent lines of social, economic, and political cleavage. The contributors here express concern that too often public policy sends messages harmful to democracy and contributes significantly to the pattern of uneven political participation in the United States. Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 10 INTRODUCTION: Public Policy and the Social Construction of Deservedness......Page 16 PART I: Historical Roots of Constructions of Deservedness and Entitlement......Page 44 1. Constructing and Entitling America’s Original Veterans......Page 50 2. Constructing the Democratic Citizen: Idiocy and Insanity in American Suffrage Law......Page 78 3. From “Problem Minority”to “Model Minority”: The Changing Social Construction of Japanese Americans......Page 96 PART II: Congressional Discourse: Forging Lines of Division between Deserving and Undeserving......Page 120 4. Contested Images of Race and Place:The Politics of Housing Discrimination......Page 126 5. “It Is Not a Question of Being Anti-immigration”: Categories of Deservedness in Immigration Policy Making......Page 154 PART III: Nonprofits, Neighborhood Organizations, and the Social Construction of Deservedness......Page 184 6. The Construction of Client Identities in a Post-welfare Social Service Program: The Double Bind of Microenterprise Development......Page 188 7. Deservedness in Poor Neighborhoods: A Morality Struggle......Page 212 PART IV: Constructions by Moral Entrepreneurs and Policy Analysts......Page 234 8. From Perception to Public Policy: Translating Social Constructions into Policy Designs......Page 238 9. Jezebels, Matriarchs, and Welfare Queens: The Moynihan Report of 1965 and the Social Construction of African-American Women in Welfare Policy......Page 258 10. Putting a Black Face on Welfare: The Good and the Bad......Page 276 PART V: Social Constructions, Identity, Citizenship, and Participation......Page 302 11. Making Clients and Citizens: Welfare Policy as a Source of Status, Belief, and Action......Page 306 References......Page 344 Contributors......Page 372 C......Page 376 E......Page 378 H......Page 379 K......Page 380 M......Page 381 P......Page 382 R......Page 383 S......Page 384 U......Page 385 Z......Page 386 State University of New York Press Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy 4 Contents 6 Foreword 10 INTRODUCTION: Public Policy and the Social Construction of Deservedness 16 PART I: Historical Roots of Constructions of Deservedness and Entitlement 44 1. Constructing and Entitling America’s Original Veterans 50 2. Constructing the Democratic Citizen: Idiocy and Insanity in American Suffrage Law 78 3. From “Problem Minority”to “Model Minority”: The Changing Social Construction of Japanese Americans 96 PART II: Congressional Discourse: Forging Lines of Division between Deserving and Undeserving 120 4. Contested Images of Race and Place:The Politics of Housing Discrimination 126 5. “It Is Not a Question of Being Anti-immigration”: Categories of Deservedness in Immigration Policy Making 154 PART III: Nonprofits, Neighborhood Organizations, and the Social Construction of Deservedness 184 6. The Construction of Client Identities in a Post-welfare Social Service Program: The Double Bind of Microenterprise Development 188 7. Deservedness in Poor Neighborhoods: A Morality Struggle 212 PART IV: Constructions by Moral Entrepreneurs and Policy Analysts 234 8. From Perception to Public Policy: Translating Social Constructions into Policy Designs 238 9. Jezebels, Matriarchs, and Welfare Queens: The Moynihan Report of 1965 and the Social Construction of African-American Women in Welfare Policy 258 10. Putting a Black Face on Welfare: The Good and the Bad 276 PART V: Social Constructions, Identity, Citizenship, and Participation 302 11. Making Clients and Citizens: Welfare Policy as a Source of Status, Belief, and Action 306 References 344 Contributors 372 Index 376 A 376 B 376 C 376 D 378 E 378 F 379 G 379 H 379 I 380 J 380 K 380 L 381 M 381 N 382 O 382 P 382 R 383 S 384 T 385 U 385 V 386 W 386 X 386 Y 386 Z 386 ISBN-13:,9780791463413 "Public policy in the United States is marked by a contradiction between the American ideal of equality and the reality of an underclass of marginalized and disadvantaged people who are widely viewed as undeserving and incapable. Deserving and Entitled provides a close inspection of many different policy arenas showing how the use of power and the manipulation of images have made it appear both natural and appropriate that some target populations benefit from policy, while others do not."--Jacket Of all of the public policies involved in the social construction of citizens, entitlements are undoubtedly the most overt.