Compared to other rich Western democracies, the United States historically has done less to help its citizens adapt to the uncertainties of life in a market economy. Nor does the immediate future seem to promise anything different. In Welfare As We Know It, Charles Noble offers a groundbreaking explanation of why America is so different, arguing that deeply rooted political factors, not public opinion, have limited what social reformers have been able to accomplish.

Drawing on state-of-the-art research in comparative politics, history, and sociology, the book's first two chapters demonstrate that decentralized political institutions, a weak labor movement, and racial conflict have loaded the dice against progressive reform in the United States. Four historical chapters, spanning the twentieth century from the Wilson to the Clinton Administrations, show how this inhospitable political environment has shackled proponents of public provision at critical junctures.

In two provocative concluding chapters, Noble considers the future of U.S. social policy, contending that reformers who want government to do more must refocus their activities on political and institutional change, such as campaign finance and labor-law reform, if they hope to transform social policy.