ABSTRACT
Introduction On the campaign trail during the 1992 presidential
election, Bill Clinton's stump speech included a pledge to "end welfare as we know it" to the delight of most audiences. Two years later during the 1994 congres-
S sional election, one of the most popular planks of the Republicans' Contract with America was the "Personal Responsibility Act," which called for a major overhaul of the welfare system. The election of this Republican Congress initiated a great deal oflegislative activity and
10 presidential maneuvering on the issue of welfare reform. The culmination of those efforts occurred in August of 1996 when President Clinton signed into law sweeping welfare reform legislation. By ending the federal guarantee of support for the poor and turning
15 control of welfare programs over to the states, this legislation reversed 6 decades of social policy and begot a new era of welfare politics. Throughout this period of intense political activity, the media focused a significant amount of attention on poverty and welfare reform.
