Politics, Policy, and Poverty

Catalog description

This course examines public policy debates about the problem of poverty in the US. It begins with ethnographic accounts of living in poverty and a poverty simulation. Students then read leading social and political science explanations for what causes poverty, including family, culture, social structure, and political power. Finally, students will read and debate a variety of public policy solutions to poverty, including welfare reform, income transfers, education, and reducing income inequality. Throughout, students will learn and practice tactics of political advocacy to promote a poverty policy solution of their choice. Credit cannot be received for both POLS 4310 and POLS 5310.