Social Assistance Reductions, Health, and Policy Feedback in the Mass Public

• In Event: Health Policy Feedback

Abstract

A large literature argues that social programs affect political participation in the mass public via resource effects. This literature generally tests for resource effects by measuring gains in policy resources among program participants, and then using cross-sectional data to analyze political participation outcomes—usually voter turnout—across program participants and non-participants. In this paper, I examine whether the loss of policy resources affects health and political participation, with a focus on reductions in food assistance benefits and participation in multiple political activities. Using an original longitudinal survey of the same adults in Texas, I analyze the effects of a large, statewide cut in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on health and on electoral and non-electoral political participation. The findings connect the literatures on mass policy feedback and the social determinants of health, and they have important implications for health policy.

Author

• Gregory Schober, University of Texas at El Paso