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“Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” Such comments spotlight a central question animating Suzanne Mettler’s provocative and timely book: why are many Americans unaware of government social benefits and so hostile to them in principle, even though they receive them? The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Mettler argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the “submerged state.”
In recent decades, federal policymakers have increasingly shunned the outright disbursing of benefits to individuals and families and favored instead less visible and more indirect incentives and subsidies, from tax breaks to payments for services to private companies. These submerged policies, Mettler shows, obscure the role of government and exaggerate that of the market. As a result, citizens are unaware not only of the benefits they receive, but of the massive advantages given to powerful interests, such as insurance companies and the financial industry. Neither do they realize that the policies of the submerged state shower their largest benefits on the most affluent Americans, exacerbating inequality. Mettler analyzes three Obama reforms—student aid, tax relief, and health care—to reveal the submerged state and its consequences, demonstrating how structurally difficult it is to enact policy reforms and even to obtain public recognition for achieving them. She concludes with recommendations for reform to help make hidden policies more visible and governance more comprehensible to all Americans.
The sad truth is that many American citizens do not know how major social programs work—or even whether they benefit from them. Suzanne Mettler’s important new book will bring government policies back to the surface and encourage citizens to reclaim their voice in the political process.
- Sales Rank: #3515765 in Books
- Published on: 2011-09-27
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .80" w x 6.00" l, .85 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 176 pages
Review
“The Submerged State is a vitally important analysis for anyone who has bemoaned the inertia and inequities of modern US politics.” (Times Higher Education)
“[I]nformative [and] engaging. . . . This is an important, well-reasoned, welcome volume. Highly recommended.”
(D. R. Imig Choice)
“Mettler demonstrates convincingly that the submerged state perpetuates economic inequality as well as confusion, ignorance, and apathy. The average citizen would benefit greatly if, as far as possible, Mettler’s prescriptions for the reduction of the submerged state were to be effected.” (Ursula Hackett Oxonian Review)
“Important and provocative.” (Jeffery A. Jenkins, University of Virginia Congress & the Presidency)
“Why do Americans find government so baffling and irritating—even though many of us depend on public programs for a secure retirement, an affordable mortgage, or a college loan? In this timely and important book, political scientist Suzanne Mettler explains how the United States has come to rely on hidden, indirect policies that privilege special interests but puzzle regular citizens. American democracy can do better, and she shows how. Politicians and the public alike have much to learn from her brilliant and engaging analysis.” (Theda Skocpol, Harvard University)
“Americans want government policies to be transparent, straightforward, and fair, but many social programs are confusing and opaque and shower benefits disproportionately on the well-to-do. In this timely, penetrating, and highly readable book, Suzanne Mettler illuminates the hidden government benefits and subsidies that comprise our ‘submerged state’ and demonstrates how its murky operation impairs democratic practice and weakens civic engagement.”
(Eric M. Patashnik, University of Virginia)
About the Author
Suzanne Mettler is the Clinton Rossiter Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University. Her most recent book is Soldiers to Citizens: The G.I. Bill and the Making of the Greatest Generation.
Most helpful customer reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Freedom's Biggest Threat: Social Policy Submersion
By R. JACKSON
Review for "The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine Democracy,
Suzanne Mettler
I came across this wonderfully written book by Suzanne Mettler while browsing the internet for a list of all the major government social policies. Only days earlier, I had been down to the local board of elections to vote for the next President of the United States and other government officials. While standing in line, along with candidate information, I was handed a pamphlet about Frederick Douglas Republicans. I was not aware then, as I am now, that that little pamphlet would lead me to the work of Mettler. In the minds of many American citizens, Republicans represent the party of less government spending and involvement in the private lives of its citizens. While Democrats are generally thought of as the party favoring government involvement mainly through social welfare entitlement programs...more spending. However, Suzanne Mettler's book elucidates the fact that the U.S. government is also, primarily, the invisible supporter of social programs that are incentivized and delivered through private individuals and organizations. Uncle Sam majorally provides funding for thousands of activities that are actually social programs. To many citizens, these programs float beneath their perception regarding the involvement of government, because they are only made visible through banks, businesses, contractors and other entities that directly interface with the public. Because of this, Mettler states that it is beyond time for evidence-based policy making that restores the connection between government and its citizens. This connection she says, will give citizens the capacity to be more deeply involved in the political process and to have their voices actually heard. The Submerged State is so inspiring for its fluidity and ability to cut straight to the core of the problem in U.S. governance today. America's citizens do not fully understand how their freedoms are being represented in Washington and across the country. Permeated throughout the book is the emphasis on behavioral economics - evidence-based policymaking, and how public policy influences the health of democracy. Are we really free in America if the average person in this country does not really understand, for example, the depth of influence on social policy by "private actors" who stand to benefit the most? Most of us vote with a herd mindset without the foggiest idea of who is driving the bus...merely passengers. The book is a must-read. It will turn on the light that will enable most of us to begin to join the conversation that govern our lives and that of future generations.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
A powerful look at the hidden side of government
By Michael Burnam-fink
It doesn't take a pundit to know that American politics are screwed up beyond measure. Congress is stuck in gridlock, the economy is stalled, elections are decided by culture war attack ads, and politics itself is derided as a pursuit for lying hustlers. Everybody has a a scapegoat, but Mettler actually has some evidence backing her theory.
The key issue is not the government we see, but the government we don't, the vast tangle of tax breaks, public-private partnerships, and incentives that Mettler deems 'the submerged state'. The size of the submerged state is astounding, 8% of the GDP, or half the the size of the visible state (Medicare, social security, Medicaid, the military, servicing the debt, and the relatively minuscule discretionary funding that covers everything else the government does, from transportation to education to NASA and foreign aid).
Mettler deploys economic and social statistics to show that for all it's expense, the submerged state is a failure on nearly every level. Whatever your politics, there is something to dislike about the submerged state. It represents a transfer of wealth from the poor to the wealthy, when most Americans abstractly support reducing inequality. It is a distortionary government influence on the workings of the free market, without even the relativity clarity of direct purchases or regulations. It often fails to accomplished stated policy goals of improving access to education, healthcare, or housing. It leads to civic disengagement, as those who benefit fail to see how the government has helped them, or how they can meaningfully impact politics through voting. And above all, it is corrupt, as it replaces broad public participation with the lobbying of narrowly constituted wealthy interests groups.
This book is not perfect. Mettler is a liberal political scientist, and she has the biases of her profession: that conservatives are responsible for much of what's gone wrong with America over the past 30 years (disclosure: I agree), and that citizens would vote 'better' (I.e. for liberals) is they were just better informed. She is also not quite up to the task of sinking the submerged state. But these are minor quibbles. In the social sciences, I evaluate theories on their explanatory power, and Mettler has provided a powerful lens for seeing many divergent policies as part of a unitary whole.
In a just and reasonable world, the 2012 Presidential campaign would about Mettler's book. Unfortunately, we're still living on Earth, and so it's going to be about Obama's socialism and Romney's dog.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Important and Credible
By Loyd Eskildson
President Obama came into office with a social welfare policy agenda aimed at reconstituting a conglomeration ('submerged state') of existing federal policies that incentivize and subsidize activities engaged in by private actors and individuals. Efforts to restructure the political economy via taxation, higher education policy, and health care, he entered an area presenting immense obstacles to reform. For much of the public, delivery within those areas has failed to meet the high expectations surrounding him when he took office.
As of 2008, social (non-business) tax expenditures accounted for 7.4% of GDP, the largest emanating from the non-taxable nature of health insurance benefits provided by employers, followed by the home mortgage interest deduction, and then tax-free employer-provided retirement benefits. (Tax expenditures for business, such as those for the oil and gas industry, make up another 1%.) These should be added to the 17.1% of GDP spent on government welfare programs (1995). In addition, the Higher Education Act of 1965 gave incentives to banks to lend to students at low interest rates; this was followed by 'Sallie Mae' to provide a secondary market for such. Then we have the Earned Income Tax Credit
Obama's first problem came from intense polarization, combined with unequal representation in the Senate from conservative, relatively low-population states, and the ability to impede the majority through filibuster via only 41 votes - an obvious target for lobbyists (about $17 billion spent 1998-2009 by the top five sectors). Few organizations, however, represent the general public on social welfare issues, especially those within the submerged state.
While users of 'visible social programs' become more supportive of government, they do not do so after using submerged-state programs because many don't recognize the origin of their support. (President Obama has acerbated the problem by not highlighting the government's role in many hidden areas.) Anywhere from 25% (Food Stamps) to 60% (Home Mortgage Interest Deduction) recipients report they 'have not used a government social program.'
Those identifying themselves as 'conservatives' were much less likely to acknowledge using a government program. 'Keep your government hands off my Medicare' said one town hall meeting attendee in 2009; 25% of Medicare beneficiaries in 2009 believed their benefits came from a private insurance company. Almost half of Social Security recipients believed they had paid for the entirety of their benefits.
Another key factor: The bulk of deductions and exclusions for employer-sponsored health insurance, home mortgage interest deduction, and charitable contributions deductions go to those in upper-income sectors. (Turns out the tax break given employer-provided insurance dwarfs the cost of the entire Affordable Care Act, while subsidies to help those who can't afford health insurance have become extremely controversial.) Thus, Obama's efforts to reduce their regressivity met severe resistance - starting with the affected industries and also including major donors, while lacking support from many in lower-income segments who didn't realize they were/would be benefiting.
Bottom-Line: The submerged state obscures the role of government and exaggerates that of the market. Mettler ends cautioning us not to take at face value the claims that most Americans dislike government, then adds suggestions for future efforts in these submerged areas - eg. improved communications with the public.
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