When Movements Matter: The Townsend Plan and the Rise of Social Security(Princeton Studies in American Politics)

"When Movements Matter" accounts for the origins of Social Security as we know it. The book tells the overlooked story of the Townsend Plan - a political organization that sought to alleviate poverty and end the Great Depression through a government-provided retirement stipend of $200 a month for every American over the age of sixty. Both the Townsend Plan, which organized two million older Americans into Townsend clubs, and the wider pension movement failed to win the generous and universal senior citizens' pensions their advocates demanded. But the movement provided the political impetus behind old-age policy in its formative years and pushed America down the track of creating an old-age welfare state. Drawing on a wealth of primary evidence, historical detail, and arresting images, Edwin Amenta traces the ups and downs of the Townsend Plan and its elderly leader Dr. Francis E. Townsend in the struggle to remake old age. In the process, Amenta advances a new theory of when social movements are influential. The book challenges the conventional wisdom that U.S. old-age policy was a result mainly of the Depression or farsighted bureaucrats. It also debunks the current view that America immediately embraced Social Security when it was adopted in 1935. And it sheds new light on how social movements that fail to achieve their primary goals can still influence social policy and the way people relate to politics.

Table of Contents:
Preface vii Introduction: The Townsend Plan's Image Problem 1 Chapter One: Success or Consequences, and U.S. Social Movements 14 Chapter Two: How the West Was Won Over 35 Chapter Three: Behind the Townsend Plan's Rise and Initial Impact 62 Chapter Four: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security 81 Chapter Five: A National Challenger 105 Chapter Six: Dr. Townsend, Now at the Helm 130 Chapter Seven: The Rise of a Pension Movement 151 Chapter Eight: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security, Part 2 176 Chapter Nine: The Elusive Double Victory 197 Conclusion: A Hero for the Aged? 221 Acknowledgments 243 Notes 245 Index 311

About the Author :
Edwin Amenta is professor of sociology and history at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of "Professor Baseball" and "Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy" (Princeton).

Review :
Compelling... Grounded in impressive archival research that easily makes it the best book on the Townsend Plan ever published... The book is well-written and the balance between its theoretical and historical components is excellent. -- Daniel Beland Contexts Amenta's sharp theoretical analysis of the Townsend mobilization and his rigorous excavation of the historical evidence sets a high standard for future research... -- Joseph E. Luders Perspectives on Politics When Movements Matter is clearly written and is the most detailed history of the Townsend Plan published. -- Raymond Richards Journal of American History First-class scholarship... When Movements Matter is beautifully written, well argued, and systematically researched. This is state of the art theory and research... If you have any interest in why and how social movements succeed or fail, you must read Amenta. -- Nella Van Dyke Contemporary Sociology The best history we have of both the Townsend Plan and the pension movement from the Great Depression to 1950. More generally, it is one of the finest accounts to date of any movement of 'challengers' over a long era of economic and political turbulence. -- W. Elliot Brownlee Business History Review This is the best crafted book I have seen in awhile. It is a delightfully written (and at times even humorous) account of the rise and fall of the Townsend Movement... I recommend this book strongly to all people interested in understanding the dynamics of social movements and not only those interested in movement consequences. -- Sarah A. Soule Mobilization