| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.1

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 261 words from this article are provided below; about 552 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Edwin Amenta. Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy. (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1998. Pp. xiii, 343. $39.50.

Edwin Amenta offers a provocative and sophisticated interpretation of New Deal social policy that led the United States, on the eve of World War II, to pledge more of its national product to social spending than any other major industrial nation. Moreover, he shows that the United States became a world leader in public social spending on the basis of work and relief, not social insurance. By emphasizing the importance of work and relief policy as the core of New Deal social policy, Amenta challenges much of the conventional wisdom about New Deal history and the origins of the modern American welfare state. 1

In developing his argument, he employs institutional political theory holding that the enduring institutional characteristics of political systems and political parties are fundamental in influencing the social policy. He argues that, during the 1930s, a "reform-oriented" regime was established through the election of a Democratic president and a Democrat-controlled legislature. Supported by a wide array of groups, the New Deal was able to increase social expenditures for work and relief programs. Nonetheless, the New Deal did not develop a comprehensive welfare system, Amenta posits, because of political opposition that came from the "underdemocratized" South and the patronage-dominated political machines in the Midwest and certain northeastern states that opposed further expansion of the welfare state. . . .

There are about 552 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.