Obama’s Welfare Legacy

Anne Daguerre is Associate Professor in Work Employment and Welfare, Business School, Middlesex University, London, and an alumna of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington DC.

• Introduction: Malaise in the American dream: Economy, Politics, Ideology;Part 1: Setting the scene: welfare reform post 1996 and the Great Recession; The American social contract at the crossroads; The Obama administration vision: glass half full or half empty?; Part 2: The paralysed presidency?; Navigating the political backlash; The politics of damage limitation; Part 3: Assessing the Obama Presidency; The Obama legacy; Conclusion.

"In this clearly written and well-researched book Anne Daguerre provides an insightful analysis of the successes and failures of the Obama administration's efforts to reduce poverty and inequality in the United States. She convincingly argues that the administration was serious in its efforts, but was hindered both by its own limited vision and also the fierce, and often effective, opposition from Republicans to even incremental changes to existing programmes and policies." Dr Alex Waddan, University of Leicester