Philosophical Viewpoints on Social Welfare Policies

In this assignment, you will examine the ideological struggles that underlie policymaking in the United States. This includes the following:

• The historical legacy of fear of a strong central government and how this fear has influenced the development of the US Constitution.
• The ideological divisions in the United States’ politics which fall primarily along a Conservative–Liberal continuum.

Research areas of social welfare policy using your textbook, the Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet.

Select an area of social welfare policy in which you are interested. Respond to the following:

• Identify the aspects of the policy that reflect a conservative perspective and the aspects that reflect a liberal perspective.
• Explain the impact of the mixed ideological foundation on the focus and structure of the policy.

The political ideologies of a country are very specific to its cultural history. Keeping this in mind, respond to the following:

• Discuss how the policymaking of one other country aligns with or differs from the United States due to its cultural history.
• Provide examples to explain why the policymaking is similar or different.

Write your initial response in 300–400 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

By Saturday, August 1, 2015, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, August 5, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Cover the following items in your posts:

• Provide a statement of clarification.
• Provide a point of view with rationale.
• Challenge a point of discussion, or draw a relationship between one or more points of the discussion.