Welfare in America: Christian Perspectives on a Policy in Crisis

Between 1992 and 1995, the Center for Public Justice, a Christian civic-education and public-policy think tank undertook an extended project named the Welfare Responsibility Inquiry. In May 1994, the project hosted a conference in Washington, DC, on "Public Justice and Welfare Reform." The project involved, at its center, a group of scholars who met periodically to discuss the issues involved. Those scholars then wrote the papers which are collected in Welfare in America.

"Welfare in America," James Skillen writes, "argues that assistance to the needy does not, and should not, come primarily from government. Government, whether at federal or state levels, should help hold people accountable to their various institutional and personal responsibilities rather than fill in for every failure." The range of topics addressed in Welfare in America is extensive. Though no reader will agree with everything here, those whose calling requires them to think through this issue with care will be wise to include Welfare in America in their list of books to be read.

Contributors:
Stanley Carlson-Thies
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Max Stackhouse
Bob Goudzwaard
Mary Ann Glendon
Stephanie Collins
James Skillen
John Mason
Stephen Mott
Lawrence Mead
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen
Paul Marshall
Anne Hallum
Cynthia Neal
Mary Van Hook
John Hiemstra
Charles Glenn
Stephen Monsma
Ronald Sider
Julia Stronks
Clarke Cochran