The Politics and Ethics of Welfare Policy: A Continuing Debate
presented by
The Center for the Study of Catholic Social Thought
and The Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy
in collaboration with
The Departments of Sociology, Theology, Political Science and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program
Welfare continues to be one of the most controversial social policies in American politics.
On August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which has profoundly changed the nature and direction of the welfare system. The law abolished the major federal cash assistance program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and replaced it with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
A sharp divide exists between those who stand in opposition to the sweeping reforms of welfare policy and those who support them. The opposition holds that repudiating the welfare system as it had long been envisioned betrays the most fundamental values we profess as a people and nation. Those who take a contrary view hail welfare reform as a major step in eroding a culture of dependency and in building a culture of responsibility.
The conference will explore not only the politics of welfare reform, but also its ethics. Its aim is to engage all stakeholders in a discourse that brings together policy history, ongoing political debates, and the tradition of Catholic social teaching to illumine what is humanly at stake in welfare reform.
» About
April 15-16, 2008
Pappert Lecture Hall
Bayer Learning Center
Duquesne University
On Site Registration
12 - 1 p.m.
Program
1 - 6:30 p.m.
Admission is free and
open to the public
