Preface / Evelyn Z. Brodkin and Gregory Marston -- Introduction -- Work and the welfare state / Evelyn Z. Brodkin -- Street-level organizations and the welfare state / Evelyn Z. Brodkin -- What's at issue: politics, policies, and jobs -- The American welfare state : two narratives / Michael...

The progress of markets erodes traditional relations of social solidarity that are essential for the stability and performance of societies. As markets advance, pressures build on the state to replace informal social obligations with formal ones. Regulation may fail, however, which tends to give...