Hello Group 4,
The last time we met in class Rebecca gave me the suggestion to investigate differences in population make up. That’s was a great point. I came across an article in the Scandanavian political Studies Journal which compares the American Welfare system to countries coined as”social democratic” nations: Belgium, Denmark, Sweeden etc. Social Democracy usually results in the evolution of capitalist economy to semi- socialist economy. These Social Democratic Countries have historically, homegenous populations. Until very recently there has been an influx of immigrants, Social Scientists have theorized that natives do not harbor negative public opinion toward immigrants benefiting from the welfare system because: 1. unlike the US, countries have refrained from politicizing issues with ethnicity 2. US citizens have deeply engrained view of welfare recipients as “lazy opportunists” ( capitalism)
