Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform federalized Reagan-era family-responsibility policy

Evidence

As president, Reagan attempted to translate his Californian project in welfare reform onto the federal stage, without success. Instead Reagan’s project was brought to final fruition by President Clinton, whose monumental welfare reform of 1996 effectively federalized the poor law tradition, turning America’s welfare bureaucracy into an immense national apparatus for policing and enforcing child support obligations amongst the welfare poor. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 245

Categorization

• XREF: Fracturing the left/right caricature that only Republicans pursue welfare retrenchment; pairs with arguments elsewhere on the neoliberal continuities of Clinton and Blair. — connects to: Reagan’s California welfare reform enacted neoliberal family-responsibility policies — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 242; Clinton’s welfare reform federalized old poor law family-responsibility principles — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 211; Clinton’s 1996 reform, not Reagan’s federal push, enacted the welfare overhaul

Broader Connections

• Clinton’s welfare reform federalized old poor law family-responsibility principles #expands (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 211
• Reagan’s California welfare reform enacted neoliberal family-responsibility policies #corroborates (0.72) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 242
• Clinton’s 1996 reform, not Reagan’s federal push, enacted the welfare overhaul #contradicts (0.70)