Introduction : from social problems to social policies -- The social worldview of medieval Christianity as prologue -- Secular transitions and assumptions -- Marx, Durkheim, and the limits of laissez-faire capitalism -- From theory to ideology -- Origins of social policy in Europe and the United...

I: Basic tour -- She's so unusual -- Tracks of my tiers -- Twice in a lifetime -- II: New horizons -- Ogres, onions, and layers (or, how Republicans built the American welfare state) -- Programs for the poor are not always poor programs -- Shaq is still pretty tall: public support for the...