A government program financed by general income taxes that provides benefits to poor citizens without requiring contributions from them.
Charitable Choice
Name given to four federal laws passed in the late 1990s specifying the conditions under which nonprofit religious organizations could compete to administer certain federal social service delivery and welfare programs.
Client Politics
The politics of policy-making in which some small group recieves the benefits of the policy and the public at large bears the cost.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EINC)
A provision of a 1975 law that entitles working families with children to recieve money from the government if their total income is below a certain level. The EITC program was expanded during the early 1990s.
Income Strategy
A policy giving poor people money to help lift them out of poverty.
Insurance Program
A self-financing government program based on contributions that provide benefits to unemployed or retired persons.
Majoritarian Politics
The politics of policy-making in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays for it.
Means Test
An income qualification program that determines whether one is eligible for benefits under the government programs reserved for lower-income groups.
Service Strategy
A policy providing poor people with education and job training to help lift them out of poverty.