So far as we know, there is no world recognized poverty measurement can adopt to each country. Even the definitions of poverty differentiate from time and places. In Taiwan, the measurement and definition of poverty is similar to France. Both of them adopt each person¡¦s consuming outcomes for the standard of measurement. America adopts quantitative index to calculate and measure their poverty. This measurement is according to different age, sex and family total numbers, and then refers to inflation ratio of each year. About the contents of anti-poverty policy, this study find out the way of dealing with poverty issues in American, French and Taiwan are the same. All of them cannot exclude from the influences of their own historic traditional concepts. That¡¦s why America and Taiwan adopt the Residual Model to relieve the poor. After experienced the painful lessons of two world wars that brought mass poor population, France set up a popular and completed institutional re-distributive model. His or her anti-poverty policy is full caring all different statuses person. In America and Taiwan, the relationships of political parties, anti-poverty policy and elections are hard to separated. But there's a different issue altogether in France, the sense of welfare implants in the mind of French, so that no matter left-wing government or right-wing government rules the country, they could not persuade people to give up the social welfare by the fact of financial deficits. In short, the purpose of this study is try to find out how the left-wing or right-wing government is the way to treatment in the poverty issues. I chose the 1980s of American and France for the beginning -- In America, the neoliberalism economics, the right-wing government, was popular during the 1980s, and France, the only one left-wing government in western democratic countries. These two governments have been to resist poor problems over 20 years for my reference. And then discuss about the results of dealing with poverty problems in Taiwan these 20 years. This study hope can use the poverty problems, for a primary realization of the social welfare policy.

Thesis advisor: Kathleen McInnis-Dittrich / The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamics of decision-making in formulating anti-poverty policies in Palestine. Particularly, this study was concerned with exploring the key decision makers, their roles, and how the power relationship among them influences the process of formulating anti-poverty policies. In addition, this study was intended to investigate the knowledge about the dynamics of decision making within the Palestinian National Authority (PNA): how actual decisions are made about anti-poverty policies and who is making decisions. Moreover, the scope of this study also included how the unique economic, social, and political contexts of Palestine influence the process of formulating anti-poverty policies. Further, this study explored how anti-poverty policies impact the lives of everyday poor Palestinians. This study utilized political theories, colonialism theory, and hegemony theory, to understand the external factors that affect the formulation of anti-poverty policies. Also, it used public policy theories, elitism, pluralism, and bounded rationality theory, to explore how anti-poverty policies are made and who made such policies in Palestine. This study employed a qualitative approach with a social constructivist paradigm of inquiry. This case study focused on two major sites that are responsible for formulating social policies in Palestine: the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development (MOPAD) in Ramallah. The findings of this study indicated that significant changes have occurred as regards who the key decision makers are and what roles they play in the formulation of anti-poverty policies. In analyzing the power relationship among the key decision makers, the findings showed that although the PNA has increased its control over the decision-making process, the international donor agencies continue to significantly influence this process. The data also revealed that unlike the models of policy making in democratic countries (such as elitism or pluralism), the approach to developing anti-poverty policies in Palestine reflects the participatory model. Consistent with the theory of bounded rationality, the findings revealed that anti-poverty policies have been made with financial, material, political, and other limitations. Implications for formulating anti-poverty policies and for future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

This research explored the efficacy of the Volunteer Return Preparation Program (VRPP) for low-income taxpayers. VRPP facilitates free tax return preparation assistance to low-income taxpayers through partnering organizations in local communities across the United States. The project consisted of the following objectives: 1) to examine the demographic and tax filing characteristics of taxpayers that use VRPP and how they compare to a random sample of non-users, 2) to identify the extent to which VRPP users and non-users claimed select tax credits and the extent to which the utilization is explained by profile characteristics, and 3) to assess neighborhood level factors that influence VRPP participation. By focusing on a government program that is structured to provide assistance to individuals that are economically disadvantaged, this research sheds light on the efficacy of the program, while explaining participation.

The research study used the state and society approach to discuss the varying roles of the Chinese government and other social sectors, including international non-governmental organizations in China's anti-poverty campaign. China has thus far achieved remarkable progress in its poverty alleviation initiatives since 1978. The Chinese government started the rural structural revolution from 1978 to 1985 and subsequently, undertook massive development-oriented programs that were poverty focused from 1986 to 1993. In 1994, the Chinese Government formulated the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program (1994-2000) and it also launched the Development-Oriented Poverty Reduction Program (2001-2010) in 2001. In order to achieve its goals to reduce poverty, the Chinese government undertook: partnership with all social sectors; the strategy of self-reliance and reducing poverty through development; and the road of all-round development considered as the robust driving forces in China's poverty alleviation campaign. The main thrust of China¡¦s anti-poverty policy is to strengthen the capacity of the targeted population to fight poverty and attain prosperity. In conclusion, while poverty reduction essentially depends on the efforts of the governments in China, the strong support and partnership of the non-governmental organizations and other social sectors are also a necessity that will spell out the difference in the success of the program.

The core issue of this thesis deals with the global issue of poverty and gender inequality inBangladesh. The research problem deals with the concept of empowerment in relation tomicrofinance loans as poverty alleviation strategies. The most developed theoreticalframework of empowerment in the microfinance field, developed by Naila Kabeer is utilised.This thesis analysed through a qualitative content method if Kabeer´s framework can beoperationalized to understand three of the most known MF-NGOs approach to women'sempowerment in Bangladesh. The findings were that the most common concepts to describeempowerment were linked to sustainability and building capacity. It was also found that thepractical approach was mostly found on a community level. The research further concludesthat it raises questions to what extent development work can address individuality. Though,concluding arguments hold that measuring and identifying when empowerment is achieved ishowever heavily evident to further fulfil microfinance promise of empowerment for womenin poverty.

Thesis advisor: Marc K. Landy / In August of 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and fulfilled his campaign promise to “end welfare as we know it.” Conventionally, the passage of welfare reform has been understood as a product of the ‘Republican Revolution,’ a backlash against government in which the party “took back” both chambers of Congress and discharged the ten provisions of the ‘Contract with America.’ This account treats welfare reform as a deeply political affair: President Clinton was thus put into the position of needing to pass conservative welfare reform. While this theory is not inaccurate, this senior honors thesis holds that it is incomplete. Therefore, any account of the passage of welfare reform needs to engage with the more complex dimensions of policy formation. I suggest that the PRWORA was signed into law by virtue of public opinion aligning with elite opinion. The latter required ‘dissensus politics’ to be overcome. I argue that this transpired, and further that a loose consensus was formed among the elites with respect to the contents of meaningful reform due to social science evidence emanating from the various states. Lastly, I contend that the ancillary features of the legislation were negotiated, for which the nation’s governors played an instrumental role. These matters reveal timeless truths about American politics and policy formation. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Political Science. / Thesis advisor:

My thesis explores the conceptual underpinnings of the acclaimed Mexican conditional cash transfer (CCT) program Oportunidades as a way of engaging broader debates about how anti-poverty policy is evolving in the wake of the World Bank’s mid-1990s legitimacy crisis. I am interested in the behaviours and attitudes—or “subjectivities”—that Oportunidades attempts to cultivate amongst participants. Whereas the majority of CCT studies tend to focus on measuring the extent to which the programs “mold” beneficiaries into the categories of being prescribed by the program, my thesis is concerned with specifying and critically examining these categories. I use a hybrid neo-Gramscian, governmentality and critical feminist theoretical framework to probe how Oportunidades beneficiaries are constructed within World Bank and Mexican government discourse, as well as in external program evaluations. I argue that Oportunidades is underpinned by an agent-centred conception of poverty and that the program promotes a kind of gendered market-conducive subjectivity amongst beneficiaries. I conclude by exploring some of the implications of the CCT model. Ma thèse explore les fondements conceptuels du Oportunidades, un programme de transferts conditionnels de fonds (TMC) Mexicain acclamé. J’utilise les TMC comme une ouverture pour élargir le débat sur la manière dont la politique anti-pauvreté évolue dans le sillage de la crise de légitimité à laquelle la Banque Mondiale a fait face dans le milieu des années 1990. Je m'intéresse aux types de comportements et d'attitudes—ou «subjectivités»—que Oportunidades essaye de cultiver chez les participants. Alors que la majorité des études sur les TMC focalisent sur l’évaluation des succès du programme à modeler les participants afin qu’ils entrent dans les catégories de personnes prescrites par le programme, mon but est la spécification et l'examen critique de ces catégories. J'utilise un cadre théorique hybride qui combine néo-gramsciennes, la gouvernementalité et des théories féministes critiques pour enquêter sur la façon dont les bénéficiaires du programme Oportunidades sont construits à l’intérieur du discours de la Banque Mondiale, du gouvernement mexicain, ainsi que dans les évaluations externes du programme. Je soutiens qu’il y a, dans le programme Oportunidades, une conception sous-entendu de la pauvreté centrée sur les comportements des individus et que le programme promeut une subjectivité sexuée des bénéficiaires qui facilite leur participation au marché. Je conclus en explorant quelques implications du modèle TMC.

My thesis explores the conceptual underpinnings of the acclaimed Mexican conditional cash transfer (CCT) program Oportunidades as a way of engaging broader debates about how anti-poverty policy is evolving in the wake of the World Bank’s mid-1990s legitimacy crisis. I am interested in the behaviours and attitudes—or “subjectivities”—that Oportunidades attempts to cultivate amongst participants. Whereas the majority of CCT studies tend to focus on measuring the extent to which the programs “mold” beneficiaries into the categories of being prescribed by the program, my thesis is concerned with specifying and critically examining these categories. I use a hybrid neo-Gramscian, governmentality and critical feminist theoretical framework to probe how Oportunidades beneficiaries are constructed within World Bank and Mexican government discourse, as well as in external program evaluations. I argue that Oportunidades is underpinned by an agent-centred conception of poverty and that the program promotes a kind of gendered market-conducive subjectivity amongst beneficiaries. I conclude by exploring some of the implications of the CCT model. Ma thèse explore les fondements conceptuels du Oportunidades, un programme de transferts conditionnels de fonds (TMC) Mexicain acclamé. J’utilise les TMC comme une ouverture pour élargir le débat sur la manière dont la politique anti-pauvreté évolue dans le sillage de la crise de légitimité à laquelle la Banque Mondiale a fait face dans le milieu des années 1990. Je m'intéresse aux types de comportements et d'attitudes—ou «subjectivités»—que Oportunidades essaye de cultiver chez les participants. Alors que la majorité des études sur les TMC focalisent sur l’évaluation des succès du programme à modeler les participants afin qu’ils entrent dans les catégories de personnes prescrites par le programme, mon but est la spécification et l'examen critique de ces catégories. J'utilise un cadre théorique hybride qui combine néo-gramsciennes, la gouvernementalité et des théories féministes critiques pour enquêter sur la façon dont les bénéficiaires du programme Oportunidades sont construits à l’intérieur du discours de la Banque Mondiale, du gouvernement mexicain, ainsi que dans les évaluations externes du programme. Je soutiens qu’il y a, dans le programme Oportunidades, une conception sous-entendu de la pauvreté centrée sur les comportements des individus et que le programme promeut une subjectivité sexuée des bénéficiaires qui facilite leur participation au marché. Je conclus en explorant quelques implications du modèle TMC.

The child tax credit (CTC) is the largest anti-child poverty policy in the United States, but it gives more benefits to upper-income households than it does to lower-income households. Meanwhile, traditional cash benefit welfare programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) have shrunk over the past two decades. Why have American policymakers approached child poverty with indirect rather than direct spending solutions? This thesis argues that neoliberalism, defined as the reliance of policymakers on market means to achieve public goals, is to blame. Historical case comparisons between TANF and the CTC demonstrate that policymakers utilize neoliberal code words implicitly to divide target populations into deserving and undeserving groups. Additionally, an original survey experiment finds that political actors can increase public support for regressive economic agendas by incorporating indirect social spending into their legislation. Ultimately, neoliberal values challenge our conception of what constitutes good politics and good policy. It is clear that direct spending solutions to child poverty are present and available, but their attainability is falsely shrouded in clouds of skepticism from the neoliberal mindset.

For all but thirteen years of the decades from 1952 to 2017, British Columbia was electorally dominated by the Social Credit Party and its ideological successor, the BC Liberal Party. These organizations represented the interests of business in opposition to the social democratic NDP, which has drawn a core support base from organized labour and the public sector middle class. This thesis frames the Social Credit-BC Liberal political formation as a ruling class bloc that maintained hegemony by switching between distinct rhetorical modes as the political situation required or allowed, with economic austerity, framed as objective necessity, on one hand, and populism, employing overt moralism and down-to-earth posturing, on the other. I posit that both modes operated to mask the class conflict at the heart of the neoliberal project of free markets, public sector reduction, and social atomization that has attained the status of political and economic “common sense” since its policies began to be widely adopted around the world in the late 1970s. After providing a background for the rise of Social Credit in British Columbia under W.A.C. Bennett (premier from 1952-1972), this thesis tracks the continuities and changes of the province’s hegemonic bloc, using welfare policies and poverty discourses as a focus. I consider the party’s transition from a populist one that appealed to the province’s evangelical Christian population to a modernized, neoliberal party under Bill Bennett’s leadership (1975-1986). Exploring the rationales surrounding the cuts to welfare funding enacted under the Social Credit governments of Bill Bennett and Bill Vander Zalm and the BC Liberal government of Gordon Campbell (2001-2011), I analyze how neoliberal and populist styles were employed, what the relationship between the two was, and the extent to which moralism was part of both styles/discourses regarding poverty. I also look at the extent to which the collective solidarity of anti-poverty activists and progressive religious groups was able to push back against neoliberal and populist policies, resisting the individualism that neoliberalism attempts to enforce. In these ways, this thesis seeks to contribute to making neoliberalism a topic of critical political analysis and deliberation at a time when its policies are often framed as non-ideological. / Graduate