Political Parties and Public Policy: Social Welfare Policy from Carter to Bush

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Abstract
Recent studies have concluded that the U.S. system of separation of powers is surprisingly effective in producing legislation, even under conditions of divided government. This article goes beyond the question of how much legislation is produced, and evaluates the two major parties' success at fulfilling their platform pledges on social welfare policy between 1977 and 1992. An analysis of 287 pledges confirms that most pledges are fulfilled, even in this controversial policy area. Party control of institutions does not completely explain which party fulfills more of ifs pledges: the Democrats were more successful under Bush than under Carter. Several other factors-including the content of the pledges themselves, public opinion, the state of the economy, and presidential leadership--all help create a context making fulfillment more or less likely. Under the right conditions, social welfare policymaking can be a positive sum rather than zero-sum process.

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