Presenting a stimulating contribution to the quickly advancing field of welfare attitudes research, this important book develops the understanding of welfare legitimacy. It does so by assessing the nature of popular judgments about welfare deservingness, as well as the roots and consequences of...

"The year George Washington was finishing his first term as president, 1792, William Larned was beginning his first term as overseer of the poor for Providence, Rhode Island. Larned would be re-elected for another thirty-five one-year terms and arguably exercised more authority over locals than...

"This book addresses the role of religious reformers in the development of poor relief in the sixteenth century. During the Reformation, religious leaders served as catalysts, organizers, stabilizers, and consolidators of poor relief programs to alleviate poverty. Although once in line with the...

Die Freie Wohlfahrtspflege leistet in Deutschland einen Großteil der Versorgung hilfebedürftiger Menschen und beschäftigt mehrere Millionen hauptamtlich und freiwillig Mitarbeitende. Was aber Wohlfahrt und ihre Pflege eigentlich bedeuten und wofür die Verbände der Wohlfahrtspflege...

The general assumption that social policy should be utilitarian--that society should be organized to yield the greatest level of welfare--leads inexorably to increased government interventions. Historically, however, the science of economics has advocated limits to these interventions for...