Government Matters - Welfare Reform in Wisconsin (Paperback, New Ed)

"This spectacular volume adds greatly to the breadth of Mead's groundbreaking work on welfare reform. From "Beyond Entitlement" to "The New Politics of Poverty" to "The New Paternalism," Mead has been a step ahead of other welfare researchers in showing the connections between effective government, welfare reform, and increased work and earnings. Now he provides a wonderfully detailed study of these interconnections in a particular state. By studying the politics and legislation, the implementation, and the outcomes of several waves of welfare reform in Wisconsin, Mead produces the most complete and far-reaching account ever written of how good government can improve the lives of the poor."--Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution and the Annie E. Casey Foundation

"Larry Mead is a superb scholar and writer. He has written some of the most influential books on social welfare policy in the United States. "Government Matters" represents both excellent scholarship and a valuable and solid contribution to the field of welfare politics and policy, by focusing on how policies are developed and implemented successfully. It deserves to be widely read."--Mark Rom, Georgetown University, author of "Public Spirit in the Thrift Tragedy"

"This book is extremely important not just to one field but to many: welfare policy, public management, political science, and policy analysis. It is just outstanding in every way. It is a masterly synthesis of complex ideas and complex bodies of evidence. It makes use of both quantitative and qualitative evidence, which is highly unusual. It brings together history and more traditional social science. It is both descriptive/analytical and prescriptive/normative.The prose is clear and simple."--Eugene Bardach, University of California, Berkeley, author of "A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis"