Research On The Evolution Of American Anti-Poverty Policy Since The MID-1930S

Poverty has been a common concern around the world, the theory and practice of poverty governance have also been continuously explored and advanced. Since the enactment of the Social Security Act in1935, America gradually introduced a series of programs aimed to anti-poverty. In1960s, America basically builded up a comprehensive mechanism of "social safety net". In1970s-1980s, with the drop of economic development and the political, social and cultural conservative transfer, American anti-poverty policy also began to enter the adjustment and reform stage. American anti-poverty policy gradually transferred from "entitlement welfare" to "workfare". American anti-poverty policies have been designed to work between "poverty alleviation" and "employment promotion" and to seek a balance between the two mechanisms.Based on the understanding of the definition and relative theory of American poverty, this paper divides the anti-poverty policy into three major historical development stages. The writer examines the background of the main anti-poverty policies, the program content and the characteristics of specific policies in each stage. Through the analysis of each stage, the paper concludes that the anti-poverty policy in the United States developed from the early historical Laissez-faire to the nation’s leading, again return to Liberal Era and seek the "third way" direction. Through the detailed analysis on the anti-poverty policy in each stage, the paper finally concludes the American anti-poverty policies’design concept, operation system and so on.Hoping this study will have a reference for the building and improvement of China’s anti-poverty policies.