Government Matters: Welfare Reform in Wisconsin

by Lawrence M. Mead

"Good government" is commonly seen either as a formidable challenge, a distant dream, or an oxymoron, and yet it is the reason why Wisconsin led America toward welfare reform. In this book, Lawrence Mead shows in depth what the Badger State did and--just as important--how it was done. Wisconsin's welfare reform was the most radical in the country, and it began far earlier than that in most other states. It was the achievement of legislators and administrators who were unusually high-minded and effective by national standards. Their decade-long struggle to overhaul welfare is a gripping story that inspires hope for better solutions to poverty nationwide.


Mead shows that Wisconsin succeeded--not just because it did the right things, but because its government was unusually masterful. Politicians collaborated across partisan lines, and administrators showed initiative and creativity in revamping welfare. Although Wisconsin erred at some points, it achieved promising policies, which then had good outcomes in terms of higher employment and reduced dependency. Mead also shows that these lessons hold nationally. It is states with strong good-government traditions, such as Wisconsin, that typically have implemented welfare reform best. Thus, solutions to poverty must finally look past policies and programs to the capacities of government itself. Although governmental quality is uneven across the states, it is also improving, and that bodes well for better antipoverty policies in the future.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "Government Matters" for a federalism class in the political science department at my school. I was reluctant to begin it, but I found it absolutely fascinating. My class had studied welfare reform, and I of course was familiar with the concept of welfare and its basic applications, but it was so interesting for me to go back and see where it all stemmed from. By reading a sort of case study--in "Government Matters", it is Wisconsin, I was able to examine the welfare system from every angle, as opposed to just the barebones of the system that I knew from my studies and general observations. The book does an excellent job of pointing out Wisconsin's successes (as well as a few failures), and it is these successes that need to be re-examined in order to fix what has been and continues to be a broken system. Wisconsin proved that successful welfare reform is not impossible, but it takes bipartisan cooperation at all levels to make it happen. This cooperation is heavily stressed in the book, and because it is something that does not happen very often, it makes for a fascinating read for anyone interested in the welfare system or federalism. The book is a case study of the development of welfare reform in Wisconsin, but it is larger than that. It is an example of federalism as it is supposed to work. When federalism functions as intended, positive results are not far behind.