The Segmented Third Rail: The Politics of Social Security from Carter to Obama

The Forum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Béland
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Institutional Stability ◽  
The Third ◽  
Policy Alternatives ◽  
The Us ◽  
Discontinuous Nature ◽  
Structural Path ◽  
Social Security Privatization ◽  
Over Time

AbstractSocial Security is widely known as “The Third Rail of American Politics” and the program has proved been remarkably stable and politically resilient, over time. While true, this basic story about the institutional stability of Social Security in the US should not hide the segmented, discontinuous nature of its politics over the last four decades. As suggested in this article, the changing nature of Social Security politics is reflected in the variety of the policy options debated, which range from incremental benefit cuts and revenue increases adopted during the Carter and the Reagan years to structural, path-shifting proposals associated with the idea of Social Security privatization, which only became a mainstream policy alternative during the Clinton years. The following analysis explores the debate about these diverse policy alternatives, if and when they entered the federal policy agenda during the periods under consideration.

The US Rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific: Really Realist?

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Alliance Building ◽  
Realist Model

The Obama administration perceives the Asia-Pacific as a vital and dynamic region and thus prioritized it in its foreign policy agenda. Some scholars have suggested that the Obama administration’s rebalance towards Asia has taken a realist approach to engagement with the Asia-Pacific while others suggested that it deviated significantly from realism. This article seeks to examine more closely the question of the realist nature of the US rebalance policy towards the Asia-Pacific. It begins with a discussion of views of the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific before giving an overview of realism. Then, it seeks to establish a realist model of foreign policy and examine the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific against that model. It finds that the Obama administration has high scores on two of the indicators of realism—the emphasis on military capabilities and the emphasis on alliance-building—but has lower scores on the third and the fourth—a low regard for multilateral institutions, and a low regard for values. The Obama administration has actively engaged with regional institutions and has strongly supported the spread of democracy and human dignity all over the Asia-Pacific. Hence, the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific is a realist foreign policy with certain modifications.

Social Security Privatization

CFA Digest ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-103
Author(s):  
Frank T. Magiera
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Privatization

The Stabilization Process Then and Now

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Stabilization Process ◽  
The Third ◽  
Stabilization Phase ◽  
Over Time

This chapter shifts the focus to the third and final stabilization phase of the political communication cycle (PCC). During the stabilization phase, a new political communication order (PCO) takes shape through the building of norms, institutions, and regulations that serve to fix the newly established status quo in place. This status quo occurs when formerly innovative political communication activities become mundane, yet remain powerful. Much of the chapter details the pattern of communication regulation and institution construction over time. In particular, this chapter explores the instructive similarities and key differences between the regulation of radio and the internet, which offers important perspectives on the significance of our current place in the PCC and the consequences of choices that will be made over the next few years.

Coping with longitudinal data in research on developmental psychopathology

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Developmental Psychopathology ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
The Third ◽  
Data Analytic ◽  
Over Time

Many outcome variables in developmental psychopathology research are highly stable over time. In conventional longitudinal data analytic approaches such as multiple regression, controlling for prior levels of the outcome variable often yields little (if any) reliable variance in the dependent variable for putative predictors to explain. Three strategies for coping with this problem are described. One involves focusing on developmental periods of transition, in which the outcome of interest may be less stable. A second is to give careful consideration to the amount of time allowed to elapse between waves of data collection. The third is to consider trait-state-occasion models that partition the outcome variable into two dimensions: one entirely stable and trait-like, the other less stable and subject to occasion-specific fluctuations.

scholarly journals Analysis of 220 Years of Floodplain Population Dynamics in the US at Different Spatial Scales

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Firoza Akhter ◽  
Maurizio Mazzoleni ◽  
Luigia Brandimarte
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
The Us ◽  
Over Time

In this study, we explore the long-term trends of floodplain population dynamics at different spatial scales in the contiguous United States (U.S.). We exploit different types of datasets from 1790–2010—i.e., decadal spatial distribution for the population density in the US, global floodplains dataset, large-scale data of flood occurrence and damage, and structural and nonstructural flood protection measures for the US. At the national level, we found that the population initially settled down within the floodplains and then spread across its territory over time. At the state level, we observed that flood damages and national protection measures might have contributed to a learning effect, which in turn, shaped the floodplain population dynamics over time. Finally, at the county level, other socio-economic factors such as local flood insurances, economic activities, and socio-political context may predominantly influence the dynamics. Our study shows that different influencing factors affect floodplain population dynamics at different spatial scales. These facts are crucial for a reliable development and implementation of flood risk management planning.

scholarly journals Radiation-Induced Metabolic Shifts in the Hepatic Parenchyma: Findings from 18F-FDG PET Imaging and Tissue NMR Metabolomics in a Mouse Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2573
Author(s):  
Yi-Hsiu Chung ◽  
Cheng-Kun Tsai ◽  
Ching-Fang Yu ◽  
Wan-Ling Wang ◽  
Chung-Lin Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fdg Pet ◽  
Liver Parenchyma ◽  
Metabolic Alterations ◽  
Nmr Metabolomics ◽  
Post Irradiation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
18F Fdg ◽  
The Right ◽  
Over Time

Purpose: By taking advantage of 18F-FDG PET imaging and tissue nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics, we examined the dynamic metabolic alterations induced by liver irradiation in a mouse model for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: After orthotopic implantation with the mouse liver cancer BNL cells in the right hepatic lobe, animals were divided into two experimental groups. The first received irradiation (RT) at 15 Gy, while the second (no-RT) did not. Intergroup comparisons over time were performed, in terms of 18F-FDG PET findings, NMR metabolomics results, and the expression of genes involved in inflammation and glucose metabolism. Results: As of day one post-irradiation, mice in the RT group showed an increased 18F-FDG uptake in the right liver parenchyma compared with the no-RT group. However, the difference reached statistical significance only on the third post-irradiation day. NMR metabolomics revealed that glucose concentrations peaked on day one post-irradiation both, in the right and left lobes—the latter reflecting a bystander effect. Increased pyruvate and glutamate levels were also evident in the right liver on the third post-irradiation day. The expression levels of the glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PC) and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase 1 (FBP1) genes were down-regulated on the first and third post-irradiation days, respectively. Therefore, liver irradiation was associated with a metabolic shift from an impaired gluconeogenesis to an enhanced glycolysis from the first to the third post-irradiation day. Conclusion: Radiation-induced metabolic alterations in the liver parenchyma occur as early as the first post-irradiation day and show dynamic changes over time.

scholarly journals In-work Universal Credit: Claimant Experiences of Conditionality Mismatches and Counterproductive Benefit Sanctions

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
SHARON WRIGHT ◽  
PETER DWYER
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Benefit Sanctions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Universal Credit is the UK’s globally innovative social security reform that replaces six means tested benefits with one monthly payment for working age claimants - combining social security and tax credit systems. Universal Credit expands welfare conditionality via mandatory job search conditions to enhance ‘progression’ amongst working claimants by requiring extra working hours or multiple jobs. This exposes low paid workers to tough benefit sanctions for non-compliance, which could remove essential income indefinitely or for fixed periods of up to three years. Our unique contribution is to establish how this new regime is experienced at micro level by in-work claimants over time. We present findings from Qualitative Longitudinal Research (141 interviews with 58 claimants, 2014-17), to demonstrate how UC impacts on in-work recipients and how conditionality produces a new coerced worker-claimant model of social support. We identify a series of welfare conditionality mismatches and conclude that conditionality for in-work claimants is largely counterproductive. This implies a redesign of the UK system and serves as an international warning to potential policy emulators.

scholarly journals Trends in Disability Among Adults 55-64 in the United States and England From 2002 to 2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 303-303
Author(s):  
HwaJung Choi ◽  
Robert Schoeni ◽  
Tsai-Chin Cho ◽  
Kenneth Langa
Keyword(s):  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Income Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Change ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The Us ◽  
Disability Prevalence ◽  
Over Time

Abstract The paper’s goal is to assess whether and, if so, the extent to which prevalence in disability of adults near retirement ages in the US increased over time compared to their peers in England and examine income group differences in the relative trends. This study uses 2002-2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) focusing on adults aged 55-64. Annual percent changes over the period of 2002-2016 for limitations in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and activities of daily living (ADL) are estimated for each survey (HRS and ELSA) using multivariable logistic regressions to adjust for individual-level characteristics While disability prevalence of adults ages 55-64 in England improved over the years of 2002-2016 (annual % change= -2.01 for IADL; - 2.53 for ADL), disability prevalence of US adults has not improved and in fact even worsened in terms of IADL (annual % change= +1.35). There are substantial variations in the IADL/ADL trends by income groups. In the US, the adverse trends in disability were more pronounced among the lowest income groups (annual % change in IADL=1.76 for bottom 20% vs. -2.08 for top 20%; annual % change in ADL=1.08 for bottom 20% vs. -2.08 for top 20%). In England, the disability status improved over time for all but the lowest income group. We will examine further to identify specific factors contributing to divergent/convergent trends in disability between the US and England.

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