Lawrence M. Mead

Lawrence M. Mead is Professor of Politics at New York University, where he teaches public policy and American government. According to his biography on the Welfare Reform Academy site:

Professor Mead is an expert on the problems of poverty and welfare in the United States, and the politics of these Issues. His works include Beyond Entitlement (Free Press, 1986), The New Politics of Poverty (Basic Books, 1992) and The New Federalism (Brookings, 1997). Together, these books set out much of the theory and practice for mandatory work programs, which are the leading approach to welfare reform in the United States. Currently, Professor Mead is researching welfare politics in Congress and the implementation of welfare reform in Wisconsin.

He has also published many journal articles on other aspects of social policy, program implementation, policy analysis, and public policy research.

Before coming to NYU in 1979, Professor Mead held several policy and research positions in and around the federal government in Washington. He testifies regularly to Congress on poverty, welfare, and social policy, and he often comments on these subjects in the media.

Advising the Conservatives

In June 2010 Mead visited 10 Downing Street after being invited by Steve Hilton. Neil O'Brien of the Policy Exchange was present at the meeting. Mead argued that:

Serious reform means ending entitlement by clearly imposing work as a requirement for aid.

According to the Guardian, Mead suggested that the disabled should be expected to work and that in some cases benefits could be time-limited to help shunt people into jobs.

Affiliations

Policy Exchange