George W. Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative"; Bill Clinton was a "New Democrat." Both accept government as an important sponsor of social welfare benefits. Both also target benefit programs to avoid ever larger government and higher taxes; seek to minimize incentives that might discourage work, marriage, and self-reliance; and try to promote personal choice in the selection of service providers. Does this signal a new middle consensus for domestic policy making?
This seminar will recognize and salute Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs for their establishment of a chair in social welfare policy at AEI, and the appointment of Douglas J. Besharov to the Jacobs Chair. Dr. Jacobs, founder and chairman of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. in Pasadena, California, is the author of The Compassionate Conservative, the first systematic effort to develop the concept. Mr. Besharov, a resident scholar at AEI and professor at the University of Maryland, is a leading authority on government welfare policies and the American family.
