The New Deal was not the same deal for men and women--a finding
strikingly demonstrated in Divided Citizens. Rich with implications
for current debates over citizenship and welfare policy, this book
provides a detailed historical account of how governing
institutions and public policies shape social status and civic
life. In her examination of the impact of New Deal social and labor
policies on the organization and character of American citizenship,
Suzanne Mettler offers an incisive analysis of the formation and
implementation of the pillars of the modern welfare state: the
Social Security Act, including Old Age and Survivors' Insurance,
Old Age Assistance, Unemployment Insurance, and Aid to Dependent
Children (later known simply as "welfare"), as well as the Fair
Labor Standards Act, which guaranteed the minimum wage.
Mettler draws on the methods of historical-institutionalists to
develop a "structured governance" approach to her analysis of the
New Deal. She shows how the new welfare state institutionalized
gender politically, most clearly by incorporating men, particularly
white men, into nationally administered policies and consigning
women to more variable state-run programs. Differential
incorporation of citizens, in turn, prompted different types of
participation in politics. These gender-specific consequences were
the outcome of a complex interplay of institutional dynamics,
political imperatives, and the unintended consequences of policy
implementation actions. By tracing the subtle and complicated
political dynamics that emerged with New Deal policies, Mettler
sounds a cautionary note as we once again negotiate the bounds of
American federalism and public policy.
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