Nothing better exemplified candidate Bill Clinton's commitment to fundamental change than his promise to "end welfare as we know it." This pledge, more than any other, has defined him as a New Democrat determined to move beyond an exhausted left-right debate that has failed to furnish answers to America's most vexing problems.

In calling for a two-year limit on welfare, President Clinton has proposed the most radical reform to U.S. social policy in a generation. The idea that welfare should offer poor Americans transitional support en route to a job rather than subsidize a way of life widely seen as divorced from work and responsibility has struck a responsive chord with the public.

This report explores the changing politics of welfare, proposes policy changes intended to refocus welfare on the imperative of work, examines the growing evidence that putting work first yields the best results, and recommends ways to strengthen the President's blueprint for reform.