An Unlikely Opposition: Examining Political Threats to the American Welfare State

Abstract

. . . the paper opens with a consideration of the harms of a political trend hostile to government social spending. Based on evidence from the current U.S. model as well as European welfare states, I assume that government social expenditures, when properly constructed and implemented, can successfully address the issues of poverty; therefore, opposition to spending constitutes a real threat to improvements in Americans’ well-being. Next, the paper works to understand the political movement. This begins by identifying peculiarities of the trend, including two unique political puzzles that counter long-held theory on voting behavior and complicate a traditional view of opposition movements. In order to explain the motivations behind both paradoxes, the paper offers several factors that might elucidate the trend’s dynamism. Lastly, the paper will present a series of recommendations for addressing the anti-welfare state political movement.